Lions and Leo clubs buy new Meals on Wheels car for GVS

The purchase of the Hyundai i-10 has enabled the Guernsey Voluntary Service to trade in one of its fleet of four cars.

The car was bought with proceeds from the Guernsey Together celebration held in Saumarez Park last year.

Lions Club of Guernsey president Chris McDonnell said it was the second car which the clubs had bought jointly for the GVS.

‘Meals on Wheels is a good community project and it provides a vital service,’ he said.

‘It’s particularly nice to work with the GVS as they can help us identify welfare or community projects that we can take forward.’

The Leo Club’s Project Sparkle shoe box initiative which helps those who are on their own for Christmas was another example, he said.

Cars on the Meals and Wheels fleet do an average of 5,500 miles per year. They are traded in after five years when the warranty runs out.

‘We are very lucky that we have people like the Lions and Leo Clubs who are prepared to buy the cars for us,’ said GVS manager Mandy Le Bachelet.

The Meals on Wheels service has 120 clients on its books and delivers between 75 and 80 meals per day.

Clients are taken on by referral from medical professionals and are not necessarily the elderly.

All of the food is prepared at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital and is dispatched in heated boxes.

There are six different menus which are rotated on a weekly basis. Beef casserole and fish dishes are said to be among the most popular.