Serving the Athlone community for more than 50 years

Westmeath Independent Community & Sports Awards in association with Westmeath County Council

Social Inclusion Award finalist: Athlone Meals on Wheels

Athlone Meals on Wheels has been serving the community for over 50 years.

The service, which operates from Arás Bríd on Excise Street, provides hot meals daily from Monday to Friday to people in need in the area.

The meal, which is prepared by qualified chefs and kitchen staff, consists of a main course and dessert.

This year, the volunteer committee which had operated the service since its foundation disbanded. Athlone Meals on Wheels is now an independent service under the auspices of Athlone Community Services Council and in receipt of HSE funding.

Manager Mags O’Donnell said: “The service couldn’t have developed the way it has over the years without the voluntary committee that was in place.”

She pointed out that it had expanded from 50 meals a day when she started 16 years ago to a current run of over 230 meals. She paid tribute to founders Una Duffy and Una Harte and to those who had served on the committee in recent decades.

Athlone Meals on Wheels has seven staff, including CE scheme members, and 60 volunteers. It delivers meals across Athlone and to Ballinahown, Moate, Ballymore and Drumraney in South Westmeath, as well as across South Roscommon.

Service users must be referred either by a public health nurse or a medical doctor.

Users pay €5 per day for local deliveries by volunteers or €6 per day for staff deliveries by the Meals on Wheels van outside the Athlone core.

Mags O’Donnell believes the key to the service is that it helps people remain at home. She says if the person is alone and family members are at work during the day or not living locally, they have the reassurance that “someone is calling to the door”. “A lot of people don’t see anybody during the day,” she explained.

Daily meal calls are also vital in tackling social isolation. “Volunteers often build relationships and develop friendships with some of the clients,” she said.

Athlone Meals on Wheels has plans to expand its service and facilities but is extremely cognisant of the contribution of volunteers.

Mags said: “The volunteers are the backbone of the service.” From an available resource of some 60 volunteers, seven work each weekday.

“If we didn’t have them, we couldn’t run the service.”

The Social Inclusion Award finalists are Athlone Drug Awareness Group, Athlone Meals on Wheels and Infinity Friends.

The Social Inclusion award is sponsored by Westmeath County Council.