We’d like to wish all of our volunteers and clients a happy National Meals on Wheels Day!

This year we are celebrating our volunteers and their resilience during COVID, and have issued them with some very stylish facemasks. Here are a few of our volunteers sporting this essential accessory.

Thank you to all of our volunteers for everything that you do. You selflessly help so many in our community, and for that, we are truly grateful.

To help celebrate, we asked our local Members of Parliament to record a special message for our volunteers. You can view these on our YouTube Channel, here

Meals on Wheels Central Coast have offered to assist older community members who have been affected by the temporary closure of the Lite n’ Easy facility in Sydney due to COVID.

The COVID 19 pandemic has seen an increase in demand for Meals on Wheels Central Coast, with more clients than ever before being served every weekday. Over 160 Meals on Wheels Central Coast volunteers deliver over 15,000 meals per month to older Central Coast residents, and those on a NDIS plan.

To further serve the community, Meals on Wheels Central Coast have offered to aid those aged 65 and over who may be left without meals due to the temporary closure of the Lite n’ Easy Sydney facility.

“It is unfortunate that any organisation has been impacted due to COVID-19. All our clients can be reassured that we always follow covid safe procedures, with the aim of keeping our community safe,” said Dennis Taylor, CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Coast.

“With our community currently being in lockdown, we are doing all we can to assist our clients in helping them stay home and stay safe.

“Meals on Wheels Central Coast has the capacity to accommodate Lite N’ Easy clients that may not be able to source meals this week and beyond. As such, we are able to provide meals to those aged 65 and older, who have been impacted. A free main meal will be included with their order. “

To be eligible to obtain meals, community members need to be 65 or older (over 50 if Indigenous).

Any other community members who are affected at this time, are encouraged to call MOWCC so they can offer their support.

As well as meal delivery, Meals on Wheels Central Coast also offer an online grocery shopping program, where client’s groceries are ordered online, collected by a volunteer, and taken to their home.
Further information on Meals on Wheels Central Coast’s free meal offers, meal deliveries, and online shopping program can be obtained by calling 4357 8444 or email admin@ccmow.com.au .

Meals on Wheels Central Coast is open from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and covers the entire Central Coast.

Meals on Wheels Central Coast is doing all we can to help keep our clients, volunteers, and staff safe during COVID.

We will continue to deliver meals to the most vulnerable members of our community and are following strict infection control procedures and social distancing recommendations within our outlets and when delivering meals. All staff, volunteers, and visitors to our outlets are required to sign in using our QR codes, or a digital sign-in sheet.

We have adapted the way we deliver to comply with the NSW Department of Health’s guidelines. Meals on Wheels Central Coast volunteers will leave meals at the front door on a bench or chair that has been placed there for them. They will wait for the client to open the door and collect the meal prior to leaving. Where clients are unable to go to the door, COVID safe procedures are being followed to deliver meals safely.

Our Community Restaurants at Woy Woy and Bateau Bay have been placed on hold until we have been given the green light by the NSW Department of Health to commence these again. Our regular Community Restaurant clients at Yallambee Lodge at West Gosford on a Friday will have their meals delivered to their doors following COVID safe procedures.

We are here to help the members of our community during these trying times. Ensuring the health and safety of our clients, volunteers and staff remains a top priority.

If you have any questions about meal delivery procedures, please contact us on 4357 8444 or email admin@ccmow.com.au.

During the lockdown period, please be assured that Meals on Wheels Central Coast will still be delivering meals and checking in (in a COVID safe way) to those most vulnerable in the community.

If you are a Meals on Wheels Central Coast Client and are feeling unwell, please call us on 4357 8444 and let us know in advance (meals will still be delivered).

All volunteers and staff at Meals on Wheels Central Coast are following infection control procedures and social distancing recommendations within our outlets and when delivering meals.

In some cases, Meals on Wheels Central Coast volunteers will leave meals at the front door on a bench or chair that has been placed there for them. They will wait for the client to open the door and collect the meal prior to leaving. Where clients are unable to go to the door, other arrangements are being made directly with the client.

Our Community Restaurants at Woy Woy and Bateau Bay will be placed on hold until we have been given the green light by the NSW Department of Health to commence these again. Our regular Community Restaurant clients at Yallambee Lodge on a Friday will have their meals delivered to their doors following COVID safe procedures.

We will continue to deliver meals to the elderly and People with Disability in our community and will adapt the way we deliver to meet the Department of Health’s guidelines.

We are here to help the members of our community during these trying times. Ensuring the health and safety of our clients, volunteers and staff remains a top priority.

If you have any questions about meal delivery procedures, please contact us on 4357 8444 or email admin@ccmow.com.au.

National Volunteer Week was celebrated between 17 and 23 May this year, and we had a wonderful time celebrating our volunteers!

 

The importance of enabling older people to live independent and self-determined lives has led One Direct Connect trading as Meals on Wheels Central Coast, to establish a phone support service, which clients can call to discuss an array of issues.

Launched this week, the Meals on Wheels Central Coast Community Support Service is free and will be accessible to all of their clients from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

“The past year or so has seen an increase in the need for support for the older members of our community, and we have put this program together so we can further assist our clients,” said Dennis Taylor, CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Coast.

“All clients will have the opportunity to call and be linked with a service that provides experience in the area required. This could include things such as social support, mental health, advocacy, elder abuse, and rights and responsibilities in the aged care sector.

“Whilst our volunteers already perform wellness checks at each meal delivery, we are now also able to offer further support with this specialised directional referral service. A friendly voice on the end of the phone can sometimes make all the difference, and we are pleased to be able to offer high quality support and care to enable people to exercise choice and control,” Mr Taylor said.

The Meals on Wheels Central Coast Community Support Service, will be manned by a trained officer talking to clients and referring them to the appropriate resource.

Meals on Wheels Central Coast are proud to be able to offer this option to their substantial list of services to our community, that include meal delivery, social support, welfare checks, and community restaurants. The Community Support Service is available to all clients of Meals on Wheels Central Coast and One Direct Connect Ltd (NDIS and Home Care Package) clients.

To access the Telephone Support Service, clients can contact 4357 8400.

One Direct Connect trading as Meals on Wheels Central Coast currently deliver more than 16,000 meals to the elderly and People with Disability every month.

For more information on Meals on Wheels Central Coast, contact 4357 8444 or admin@ccmow.com.au

 

This fantastic poem was written by Mary, one of our valued Meals on Wheels Central Coast clients. Enjoy!

At 98, Nance has some wonderful stories to tell. Growing up in Sydney’s St Leonards, as a child she used to race outside at 8am every day to see the Brisbane Mail Plane fly past. She also witnessed the first electric train on the North Shore Line at St Leonards, causing much excitement in a world where steam trains were the norm. Nance could hear the steam trains of a night, and a couple of years ago revisited this form of transport, taking a ride on a stream train once again.

Memories of the “Lavvy Man” who would come with his truck to clear out waste, the iceman delivering a block of ice to keep food chilled, the “Rabbitoh” who sold fresh rabbits, the “Prop” man who sold props to hold up washing lines, are all fresh in Nance’s head, from a time that was so different from today. Money was left on the doorstep along with bread tins for the baker to deposit bread into, and a billy can for the milkman to fill. There were few cars then and the milkman and baker delivered via horse and cart.

Nance also recalls visiting the Airport at Mascott before WWII, where there were only 2 hangars and limited planes. This changed once the war began, and the airport grew significantly.

When Nance met and married her husband, they moved to Cremorne, where if you leant over the balcony, you could see Fort Dennison. Moving to Eastwood a little later, they lived in this suburb where chicken farms were the norm, and there was no sewer or sealed roads.

Nance, who has now called the Central Coast home for 30 years, played tennis regularly and swam in the ocean every day until she was in her 80’s. Doing her housework to Opera such as Lo Boheme and Madame Butterfly, Nance has a love for music and finds that it gives her great joy. Nance also loves historical TV shows and has a DVD collection that includes Downtown Abbey and Young Victoria.

Nance makes the most of everything and tries to remain as independent as she can, catching the public bus to the local shopping centre regularly to do a bit of supermarket shopping. She also has a weekly catch up with friends there, and visits to the local club for lunch every fortnight are also on Nance’s social agenda.

Nance goes out nearly every day and is quite happy with what she’s doing. Socialising is important to her, and this is one of the reasons that she’s attended our Community Restaurant at Bateau Bay for 15 years, the second longest attendee there. The Community Transport bus picks her up every week, and Nance says she is very well looked after at Community Restaurant and appreciates that she’s given a choice of which beautiful meal to have for lunch.

Our Community Restaurants provide an important social outlet for many of our clients, and we are grateful that we form part of Nance’s very busy social schedule.  It was wonderful to chat with Nance, who continues to inspire us with her grateful and positive attitude.

More information about our Community Restaurants can be found here.