MEALS ON WHEELS IN BRIGG AREA CHANGING FROM APRIL

At a recent Brigg Town Council meeting in the Angel Suite, Coun Rob Waltham made brief reference to forthcoming changes  to what many of us still call the meals on wheels service.
He was wearing his important hat as a member of the cabinet at North Lincolnshire Council.
Some weeks passed - we might say giving food for thought! - before details were made public to more than the 20-or-so present when Coun Rob made his important announcement.
The main points of interest are:

• School canteens to cook dinners, from fresh ingredients, for those who receive meals on wheels
• Introduction of sandwiches for tea
• Wellbeing checks on 'customers' during each visit
• Local ingredients being used, from local suppliers

Read on, if you want to know more, in North Lincolnshire Council's own words...

Traditional home cooked meals offered to vulnerable residents
Residents who receive meals in their own homes from North Lincolnshire Council are now being given more choice. Alongside the traditional reheated frozen meals, they can now choose to have a fresh cooked meal.
From April, the meals will be available to all vulnerable adults across North Lincolnshire who are unable to prepare a meal themselves and need that extra bit of support to ensure they can remain in their own homes. Historically the service required an assessment. The meals will also be available in the Community Wellbeing Hubs across North Lincolnshire. 
Delivered to the customers’ door, the new meals are prepared and cooked in local school kitchens and all deliveries are made by council employees. The delivery drivers also carry out a wellbeing check of the customer at each visit.
A weekly menu is provided offering two daily options of a main course and dessert. These include favourites such as shepherd’s pie, beef stew and dumplings, roast Sunday lunch, apple crumble, jam roly poly, and rice pudding. 
A sandwich tea is also available and delivered with the hot meal at lunchtime. People with particular dietary needs can also be catered for. 
The meals served are made using over 40 per cent of local ingredients, including fresh farm assured meat, local free range eggs, locally milled flour and local milk.
Coun Waltham, cabinet member for People at North Lincolnshire Council, said: “We are improving what we offer to residents by giving them more choice with the option of having a fresh cooked meal if they wish. 
“During this year, we will also be making the fresh meals available to people who visit our Community Wellbeing Hubs. This is yet another example how the council is working to support older residents to live long and independent lives.
“Sometimes we take for granted simple things, yet these are the important things for many people. And having the choice of having a nutritious home-cooked meal, with all the traditional favourites, I’m sure, will be welcomed by many people who can no longer cook for themselves.”
If Brigg Blog might be permitted a final comment, this is an excellent development and will mean a lot to a great many needy people.
We think meals on wheels was originally provided, in the 1960s, by the Women's Royal Voluntary Service. We recall seeing a picture taken in Cary Lane and featuring Brigg's Coun George Hewson with a van used for the deliveries in our area.