Portchester charity gets £4,000 grant as it delivers more than 1,500 hot meals to older people

Portchester Community Association, based at 38 West Street, Portchester, began delivering meals prepared in its on-site kitchen on Monday, March 16.

A grant of £4,000 from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation (HIWCF) has enabled the association buy a new double oven.

Cheryl Coleman, manager of the association, said: ‘It has given us some much-needed breathing space in terms of our finances.

‘There is still a lot of need in the community. We have delivered to only one couple – everyone else is on their own.

‘A lot of the older people used to go to lunch clubs – we delivered to one woman who was just eating a bread roll a day.

‘There are people really struggling.’

The association has also begun to deliver ‘boredom packs’, filled with jigsaw puzzles, games, and sweets, in response to the social isolation older people are experiencing in lockdown.

The new oven has doubled the output of volunteer chef and Royal Navy veteran Adey Gardenier, who has had to cook all the meals by himself due to the kitchen being too small for safe social distancing.

Cheryl said: ‘He has been fantastic – he has worked 50 days straight.

‘And there is an amazing team, full of smiles that are brightening the days of some of our most isolated residents, whilst also helping our local chemists we have delivered over 600 prescription deliveries since the lockdown began.’

The grant is part of the HIWCF’s ‘We’re All Together’ fund, launched in March thanks to a £125,000 donation from housing association Vivid.

HIWCF chairman Jonathan Cheshire said: ‘We are delighted to be able to support Portchester Community Association (CIO), in its work to help those in need in the local community.

‘Local charities, community groups and voluntary organisations are providing a lifeline to those less fortunate, and it is heartening to see that these organisations can react so quickly.’

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