Lunch clubs under threat
Luncheon clubs across Wyre Forest which provide hundreds of elderly people with hot meals each week are under threat after vital funding was cut.
Luncheon clubs across Wyre Forest which provide hundreds of elderly people with hot meals each week are under threat after vital funding was cut.
Funding for running the clubs in Kidderminster, Bewdley and Stourport have been pulled by Worcestershire County Council.
The decision means the Community Housing Group, which runs the service, will be forced to look elsewhere for the £31,000 it needs to survive.
The dining clubs provide a hot meal at a low cost and give residents the chance to socialise and make new friends.
Worcestershire county councillor Nigel Knowles said he feared the clubs' future would be in doubt when the funding was stopped for good in December.
Councillor Knowles said: "I think it is an awful policy and I would ask the cabinet to re-think it. If they need to make cuts they should find the money from somewhere else.
"The luncheon clubs provide an excellent service for people in Wyre Forest and the decision to cut funding is going to have a massive impact.
"It's going to make life extremely difficult for the clubs and make it difficult for them to keep going and provide the service they do.
The cuts also affect other schemes in Worcestershire which are run by Bromsgrove District Housing Trust, Festival Housing in Malvern, Worcester Community Housing and Rooftop Housing in Malvern and Worcester.
Phillip Gretton, cabinet member for adult and community services, said: "In the current year, about £6million needs to be saved in adult social care to balance the books.
"We do recognise it is painful. We hope we have given sufficient time for alternative arrangements and alternative funding to be found." No one at the Community Housing Group was available to comment.
By Heather Large
