Elderly meet at new lunch club

1:03pm Monday 14th January 2008

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A WORCESTER community group can now enjoy a fortnightly meal and get-together thanks to new funding.

This month marked the official opening of the Rainbow Hill Lunch Club - a joint venture between St Barnabas CE Church at Church Road, off Astwood Road, and Rainbow Hill Baptist Church, Worcester.

The group's aim is to provide fortnightly cooked meals for the older or most vulnerable people in the area, who also have a chance to make new friends.

It has received backing of £1,000 from Worcestershire Integrated Neighbourhood Network (WiNN), a £200,000 scheme funded by Worcestershire County Council.

Victoria Cooper, a community development worker for WiNN, who attended the inaugral meal at the Rainbow Hill centre in Astwood Road, Worcester, said she was pleased to see the group up and running.

She said: "WiNN has put in place a number of services to support the elderly and help them remain independent and give them a quality of life.

"We feel it is very important to offer people the chance to get out and mix with friends and also build friendships while enjoying a hot meal."

Baptist minister the Rev Kerry Birch said he was very happy that the church's newly-redeveloped building was being used and welcomed the partnership with St Barnabas.

He said: "It is great to see everybody here and making use of the club. We hope to be able to have many more lunches in the future."

About 20 people attended the first lunch, including volunteers and the rector of St Barnabas, the Rev Peter Haddleton.