Meals on Wheels

During these challenging times, which have impacted the cost of food, our volunteers are always ready to help. For many years, in conjunction with Merton social services, some of our volunteers acted as drivers or an extra pair of hands for the distribution of meals for the elderly and handicapped in the borough.

Many elderly people experience loneliness which can lead to a lack of motivation to do even everyday essential tasks, like cooking, cleaning or taking care of household bills. Food is a basic right for everyone and if we can help vulnerable people eat something nutritious everyday and check-in on them while we visit, it is a ‘win win’ in our eyes. During the pandemic, we helped local food banks with collections of non-perishable food items and also helped local social prescribers that had patients from asian backgrounds, by providing and delivering specialist ingredients to enable them to cook proper food from their varied ethnic traditions.

Volunteers also cooked culturally appropriate food for refugees from many diverse countries in Europe and the Middle East, who had been housed in Merton hotels by the home office during the pandemic, enabling them to feel less isolated and helping them to start the process of settling here in the UK. Our volunteers also baked thousands of lovely cupcakes, which were delivered to staff at our local hospitals and other emergency services, who were our true  heroes during the pandemic, as well as delivering donated food from grateful residents and local organisations.