East London News A Force for the community…
NEIGHBOURS IN POPLAR (NIP) has learned one lesson from the Coronavirus Lockdown – just how valuable and valued a meals delivery service can be. With the Meals on Wheels service axed in Tower Hamlets, the charity is now calling for its return.
NIP has started a petition on Change.org – and sets out the position very clearly:
“Neighbours in Poplar (a registered charity 299843) which has been working in Tower Hamlets for the past 50 years, would like your support in requesting that Mayor John Biggs restores the meals on wheels service to older and vulnerable people across the Borough. NIP has been delivering cooked meals to isolated people since the end of March and our research has shown that this service is a lifeline for people’s mental, emotional and physical health . On Sunday 26th July we will be
delivering our 5000th meal. The need for a fresh, hot cooked meal is not a covid problem, the pandemic has merely made more people aware of the awful, soul destroying loneliness suffered by many of our elders. A friendly face delivering a culturally sensitive meal daily, is surely not too much to ask for!”
The charity is asking the public to add their names to the petition and circulate it to their contact circle.
Members of the public may also wish to contact Executive Mayor John Biggs, who took the decision to close the Meals on Wheels service, and Cllr Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, who is currently in charge of the aftermath of the closure. Both could be asked to comment on how vulnerable adults who lost the service (some 150 of them) are coping and on whether the service should return.
•Sign the petition here
Sign
•Contact the Mayor and Cabinet Member
Executive Mayor John Biggs:
mayor@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Cllr Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing:
Cllr.Rachel.Blake@towerhamlets.gov.uk
●Read more about this story:
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