Duchess supports Meals on Wheels Week

At Ballater, on Deeside, The Duchess who is also known as HRH The Duchess of Rothesay (in Scotland) saw the Community Meals Service in operation when lunch was delivered to village resident, Mr Alexander (Sandy) Irvine, who will be 93 this month*. The Duchess then met representatives of the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), community meals staff and Aberdeenshire Council, to discuss how the provision of a meals service is a valuable part of a range of care at home services for people who are unable to cook for themselves. This is the second occasion that the Royal Family has been involved with Meals on Wheels. In 1997 Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother showed her support by lunching on roast beef followed by apple pie, delivered by Meals on Wheels to Clarence House. Each year, over 40 million meals are delivered to more than 20,000 of the UK's elderly population. Aberdeenshire Council adopted a Community Meals service in April 2007. With the risk of malnutrition increasing with age and a rising elderly population, community Meals on Wheels can enable people to live healthier and relatively independent lives. However the NACC estimates that 45% of councils are seeing a decline in the provision of meals to vulnerable older people. With higher food and energy costs, the NACC is predicting the provision could drop further without greater awareness of the value of the service and the adoption of a cost-efficient model. NACC national chair Sue Ullmann commented: "We are delighted that the Duchess of Rothesay has given us her support. As winter approaches it brings into stark focus how important a community meal is, particularly when you consider that the early signs of malnutrition often go unnoticed. It is only when a person needs to be admitted to hospital that the full extent, and indeed subsequent treatment cost, becomes known. "To stem any further decline we need a greater sharing of best practice to ensure we keep the wheels on our meals."