John Bercow Delivers Community Meals
01 Nov, 2011
On 6th October, in celebration of 2011's National Community Meals Week, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow MP joined apetito, the leading national supplier of Meals on Wheels to local authorities throughout the UK, as it made its daily round of deliveries to Buckinghamshire residents.
Organised by The National Association of Care Catering (NACC), National Community Meals Week (3-7 October 2011) aimed to raise awareness of this vital service, which enables many elderly, disabled or vulnerable people to remain in their own homes long after they would otherwise have been hospitalised or taken into residential care.
John helped staff at the Buckinghamshire apetito depot by delivering a meal to a resident in Winslow as part of the celebrations and was delighted to support the initiative as a keen supporter and advocate of community meals.
He said: “Meals in the community are really important to keep people healthy, nourished and in their own homes. But it goes further than the food itself – socialisation is a very important aspect and many of the people receiving community meals have no other point of personal contact. It’s hard to imagine how isolated those individuals can sometimes feel and the service being delivered is outstanding and reaches to people in need.”
Operated from its Buckinghamshire depot, apetito has been contracted by Buckinghamshire County Council to supply community meals to the county since March 2010. Every day, apetito’s Chefmobils visit residents across the area to deliver a range of nutritionally balanced meals. The lunches are heated from frozen to coincide with the delivery so all meals are served hot, just as if they had been taken out of the oven.
John also made a guest appearance on BBC Three Counties Radio during the week to further promote community meals, and particularly how running a meals on wheels service can help to save councils money by keeping people in their own homes for longer - potentially preventing or postponing the need for the far more expensive residential or hospital care.