Meals on Wheels: 70 years young and still caring for those in need

This year MoW marked 70 years of operating in Australia, and the Tamworth MoW branch held a celebration on Wednesday, August 30.

It was attended by 70 Tamworth MoW volunteers, nine staff and four clients, who were joined by Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson, Tamworth Regional Council mayor Russel Webb and Tamworth MoW president, Peter Scorgie.

The celebrations also provided an ideal chance for the Moonbi-Kootingal MoW volunteers to catch up with the Tamworth volunteers since the amalgamation of the two organisations officially on July 1, 2023.

The assembled guests were treated to a barbecue lunch and a celebratory birthday cake, while a number of special presentations were also made, noting appreciation for management roles and volunteer work.

These were made to: Sandra Betts, James Thornton, Penny Barton, Cheryl Johnson, and Brian Fitzmaurice from the Moonbi-Kootingal MoW volunteer team, and to Isobel Graham, from Tamworth MoW.

Tamworth MoW manager Peter Gallagher said the local branch would unofficially mark its 60 years service to the areas of Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal in 2023, but would officially mark the milestone in 2025.

"Our local service officially started operation in February 1965, however, began unofficially in 1963 when a local doctor started organising meals for an elderly patient," he said.

Mr Gallagher said a dedicated local team of 160 volunteers kept Tamworth MoW on the road delivering on average 350 fresh meals a day to the Tamworth and Moonbi-Kootingal areas.

He also said Tamworth MoW provided frozen and customised meals to MoW services at Manilla, Barraba, Werris Creek, Quirindi, Narrabri, Gunnedah, Coonabarabran and Coolah as requested.

"In total we produce 14,000 fresh and frozen meal units a month for use locally and in nearby areas," Mr Gallagher said.

"Our volunteer drivers are mainly retired people, but we are also supported by a number of businesses, such as NAB and Westpac who supply support staff, while Thomas Foods has been donating lamb every fortnight for the past 12 months," he said.

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The majority of clients purchase one meal a day, but it is up to the individual to order what they want, Mr Gallagher said.

MoW receives federal funding under the Commonwealth Home Support Program, which Mr Gallagher said "really only covers about 40 per cent of the organisation's costs", essentially covering administrative services.

"The service's funding is currently undergoing federal reform, and we're hoping for some positive changes," he said.

"The government recognises the importance of services like MoW as a critical service to enable the elderly to remain at home as long a possible, rather than having to enter full-time care - and good nutrition is key to keeping people at home longer."

Mr Gallagher said the delivery volunteers ensured some of our most isolated members of the community could feel supported and connected.

"Our volunteers will stop and chat with clients, depending on what the client wants, and can often provide important information on client welfare," he said.

In a year, more than 78,700 volunteers deliver over 14.8 million meals to about 53,000 recipients Australia wide in cities, regional and rural areas.

Of these, 35,000 volunteers in NSW deliver about 4.5 million meals each year.

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