Meals on Wheels volunteers supporting the most vulnerable members of Tamworth

During this week the Leader is featuring a number of local volunteer organisations, putting the spotlight on the work they do in our local community as our way of saying thank you for all the hard work and dedication.

Meals on Wheels is more than just a dinner-to-door service.

The work of the volunteers means some of the most isolated members of the community can feel supported and connected.

Volunteer Penny Moran said it is the simplest of acts, like having a conversation, that can have the biggest impact on the clients.

"It's nice to have that chat with them," she said.

"It might be only about the weather or the news, but you'll have that little chat with them. A lot of them are just sitting there watching the TV and it's nice to have a chat with them about what's happening on the news."

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With a dedicated team of 160 volunteers, Tamworth's Meals on Wheels completes over 280 delivery runs per month.

Volunteer duo Peter Doyle and John Newbey have been working together for over 12-months, undertaking numerous deliveries five days a week.

A typical morning begins bright and early at 7:30am with the collection of meals from the centre. From there the pair venture out into the community making their deliveries, while also checking in on their clients.

"You never know, we may be in the same circumstance in the years to come. So you do what you gotta do," Mr Doyle said.

The non-for-profit organisation has been running in Tamworth since 1965 and is only one of three kitchens serving the New England region.

Tamworth Meals on Wheels manager Peter Gallagher said these volunteers do amazing work, that is supporting the community in more ways than one.

"One of the best parts of our job is visiting them," he said

"About a third of our clients, out of 300, don't have immediate family in town."

"So the social interaction our volunteers have with them is critical for the welfare check, and they have that personal contact."

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