Page last updated at 11:48 GMT, Friday, March 26 2010
Meals On Wheels
Eastleigh Borough Council provides a hot meal service from
Monday to Friday and prepacked frozen meals for weekends and Bank
Holidays. Funded by the Borough Council with Hampshire County
Council, the service provides meals to about 250 Borough
residents.
Our aim is to:
- Ensure better health and improve the quality of life for local
people.
- Provide a value for money hot nutritional midday meal to
elderly Borough residents, who are unable to provide one for
themselves.
- Check on the well-being of clients and provide a daily contact
while delivering meals.
Who is eligible?
Residents of the Borough who are referred to Eastleigh Borough
Council by Doctors, Social Workers, Health Visitors or
Carers. If you are one of the above referrals can be made
direct to the meals on wheels supervisor using the form
below.
Delivery of meals
Meals are prepared at a Central Kitchen, packed in heat
retaining polystyrene boxes and distributed to 2 pick up
points. Here volunteer drivers/helpers pick up their rounds
and deliver to clients. Clients will receive their meal between
11.15am and 1pm.
Cancellations - Messages can be
passed to volunteers regarding cancellation of meals or clients may
ring the office direct before 9.30am for cancellations that
day.
Frozen meals - These are provided
on request for weekends and Bank Holidays providing the client has
a freezer for storage and an oven for reheating.
Where does the food come from?
Food for the meals is supplied by the Wiltshire based Apetito
Group. They deliver a wide variety of nutritional meals to the
kitchen twice a week.
Recycled Foil
All meals are delivered in foil containers. The containers can
be returned to the Meals on Wheels kitchen where they are sent for
recycling. Proceeds from the sale of the foil goes to The Queen
Elizabeth II Activities Centre, Bursledon, for people with special
needs.
A choice of
dinners - Includes Dish Of The Day, Vegetarian and Soft
Meals.
If someone dislikes a particular meal and lets us know we will
always provide an alternative.
Hot / Cold puddings - A choice of
Diabetic or Cheese and Biscuit options are also available for
dessert.
Payment
Meals are offered at a subsidised rate. Payment can be made by
cheque, or tokens, which can be bought from Post Offices in the
Borough. Volunteers will collect payments on Mondays or the first
day a meal is received.
Regular Contact
When we are concerned about a client, or volunteers cannot get a
reply when delivering a meal, we will always take the matter
further and contact a relative, neighbour, Social Services, or the
Police.
Volunteer Drivers/Helpers
To help maintain a high level of service, we rely on volunteer
help for deliveries. We have approximately 100 volunteers who
deliver on a rotation basis. Training is given and mileage / petrol
allowance is provided for drivers.
For many of our volunteers, Meals On Wheels provides an opportunity
to meet new people. Volunteers of all ages and from all walks of
life come to drive or help to deliver meals, please contact
02380 629130 for further information.
Back to top