A SERVICE that has delivered hot meals and companionship to some of Waverley’s most isolated older people for more that 50 years is threatened with closure.

Meals on Wheels is currently run by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) from the Brightwells Gostrey Centre in Farnham and delivers 100 hot meals a day, five days a week to the homes of more than 135 clients, as well as a friendly face and a chat.

However, citing concerns over the quality of the service’s food, Waverley and Surrey councils are currently undertaking a review of the service’s local authority funding. The RVS has warned that should funding be removed, the service may be forced to close.

Rebecca Kennelly, director of operations for the RVS in the south of England, said: “We’re disappointed to confirm that we are potentially having to consider ending our Waverley Meals on Wheels service on Friday, September 30, due to the withdrawal of its funding.  

“Under the current contract, the charity delivers 100 meals a day and we will be working with the county council to identify alternative options for the 135 older people who currently receive a meal and a ‘safe and well check’ from our volunteers.”

Waverley’s community overview and scrutiny committee agreed to an in-depth review of Meals on Wheels in January to identify whether the council should continue to support the service.

The results of this review are anticipated this September but a scoping report presented to the council on April 6 revealed a steady decrease in the take-up of the Meals on Wheels service from 40,248 meals delivered in 2011/12 to 29,775 in 2014/15.

This report added: “Consultation from the Ageing Well Strategy highlighted the need to review the service as some residents expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of meals.

“The current Meals on Wheels service has operated in the same way for some years; Future priorities and how these might be achieved may need to be considered to ensure a meals service meets the future needs of the community.”

Waverley and Surrey councils both contribute £30,000 to the Meals on Wheels service annually. But over the past three years Waverley has incurred an additional cost of £11,000 per year to repair the Gostrey Centre’s dilapidated kitchen facilities, taking its total annual investment to £41,000.

Question marks also hang over Meals on Wheels’ future kitchen facilities, with Waverley set to relocate the Gostrey day centre to the redeveloped Farnham Memorial Hall later this year where there is little room to provide a community meals service.

A Waverley spokesman told The Herald: “Waverley Borough Council has made provision within the 2016/17 budget to jointly fund the Waverley Meals on Wheels service with Surrey County Council, while undertaking a review of how the service is delivered in light of decreasing demand.

“Surrey County Council has informed Waverley that they are also conducting a review as its budgets are under severe pressure from rising demand and falling funding.

“No decision about how the service is delivered and/or funded has been made by either council; continuing to fund the service beyond the next six months remains on the table.”