Portlaoise Meals on Wheels is back and thriving

After a two year hiatus and a trojan amount of work behind the scenes, Portlaoise Meals and Wheels is back up and running and facing a bright future and a public meeting is taking place to outline that progress.

Members of the public are being invited to attend a meeting in Portlaoise to mark the service’s resumption and share its vision for the future in Portlaoise Parish Centre this evening.

Coordinator of Portlaoise Meals on Wheels, Teresa McCloskey, was at the forefront of a campaign to re-establish the service before she took up the role of Coordinator. Her later parents Teresa and Jim had both availed of the service before it closed down.

“We are up and running. We are doing an amazing job. We launched in April. We have just over 30 clients and that number is growing, every day the referrals are coming,” Teresa told the Leinster Express.

She said the Hare’s Corner came on board in September to provide meals and she thanked Edel at the Hare’s Corner for the great service.

“I am delighted with it and we have a full menu being able to go from two meals a week to four meals a week,” she said.

The meals are delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11.30am to 1.30pm with two meals and the option of dessert each day so the service user will have food for four days of the week. Teresa explained that it was very important that people who want to remain living independently are able to get the correct nutrition they need.

Teresa said that while it was difficult to restart the service in Portlaoise, the largest service in the county of Laois, there was great support from the community, local elected representatives, Connect Laois and she praised the committee behind the service.

She is delighted with the dedicated group who are running the service and with Hare’s Corner.

“It is a lovely community we have, such a lovely group of volunteers,” she said.

This evening’s meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to learn more about the service, meet the people involved, and recognise the invaluable support of the volunteers, community partners and everyone who has contributed to making the initiative possible.

“Above all, we look forward to bringing people together and continuing to build a service that makes a meaningful difference in the lives of older and vulnerable members of our community,” said Teresa.

She is hoping the event will attract more volunteers to help deliver the meals to the elderly and vulnerable. The volunteers would be asked to give up two hours once or twice a month.

“We would ask them to be available once or twice a month for delivery on a Tuesday or Thursday,” Teresa said. She said anyone who is interested in volunteering but cannot make the meeting can email [email protected] or phone 0874218520.

“We are really hoping to get a big crowd and with that we are hoping to generate more volunteers,” she said.

Teresa explained that those looking to avail of the Meals on Wheels service in Portlaoise can do so through a referral from their GP or if they are already linked in, through their public health nurse.

The Portlaoise Meals on Wheels first Open General Meeting is taking place today on Thursday, November 5 from 6.30pm to 8pm at Portlaoise Parish Centre and all are welcome.