Spreading the festive cheer with our care meals service
Our Care Meals team has not stopped during the pandemic, and continues to serve over 30,000 meals a year to an increasing number of vulnerable or elderly adults in Southampton. 2020 was a year that saw us care for some of the most vulnerable in the midst of the pandemic, providing not just hot meals, but support, comfort and daily interaction. This Christmas, we want to ensure that it we added that extra festive spirit for those whom we serve!
On Christmas Day we provided gifts bags to the residents at Erskine Court, where we cook all year round. The gift bags were put together by our amazing kitchen team for the residents, who are always going above and beyond at Erskine Court. Simon Matthews, our Deputy Hospitality Manager, volunteered to cook Christmas Dinner, which for the residents safety was delivered to their individual flats by the care staff. Simon commented that “I always like to do something for the community over Christmas - and cooking is what I love. It was a different year, balancing all the restrictions and keeping residents safe, but it was an honour to make sure they all enjoyed a festive meal!”
We also spoke to some our care meal customers over Christmas to get some feedback with how we are doing and if we can make any improvements. Many of our care clients were full of praise for our Meals on Wheels service. In Particular Mrs. Bullbrooke who beamed that “At first I did not want to have the meals service, but now I can’t live without having one each day”. In addition, we then also spoke to Ms. Rideout who was full of praise for her delivery driver, Jenny. She complimented that “All the staff are very friendly and Jenny can be very helpful and I rate the service very highly”.
Our Care Meals customers also received a festive Christmas meal of Honey roast turkey, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, sprouts, stuffing, pigs in blankets and gravy, with Christmas pudding and custard for afters. We served 140 hot meals to our customers on the 24th of December, as shown in picture below, with thanks to recent donations which helped us fund more for our customers. A well-deserved meal, at the end of a turbulent year for many.
Our Care Meals team has not stopped during the pandemic, and continues to serve over 30,000 meals a year to an increasing number of vulnerable or elderly adults in Southampton. If you would like to explore our year round service for yourself, a friend or family member, there is more information here, or just give us a call for more details.