Meals on Wheels extended to all in Wolverhampton
Meals on Wheels in Wolverhampton was today extended – to allow hot food to be delivered to anybody in the city, including students.
The number of dishes on offer has also been increased.
Previously the service was used only by the elderly and disabled, who had been referred by social services.
But now anyone can sign up to the council-run scheme, including younger people and students.
The food is now cooked en-route to homes after the council spent £50,000 fitting its fleet of seven delivery vehicles with ovens.
The old system saw food being heated up at a depot and kept warm often for hours at a time. Council spokesman Tim Clark said: "We'll see what demand is like and if it rockets we'll see if we can expand the service even more."
He said that the extension had been made possible following the investment into the fleet of delivery vehicles but said the service would remain not-for-profit.
People now have a wider choice of meals to choose from, including fish and chips, hotpots, vegetarian bakes, Asian options including fish curry and chicken tikka masala and an African-Caribbean menu featuring spicy fried chicken, beef curry and lamb calypso. A main meal and dessert costs £3.95 and afternoon tea is £1.90.
Councillor John Reynolds, cabinet member for city services, said: "Meals on Wheels provides much more than a hot meal each day.
"Many of our customers are elderly and often housebound. So the contact with our drivers can be the only person they will speak to all day."
