“People are coming out because they don’t want to sit in a cold house” – Salford community centre offers free breakfast and lunch to elderly as cost of living crisis worsens

Langworthy Cornerstone community centre is offering Salford residents aged 65 or over a free lunch or breakfast until October 24.

The centre is offering up to three cooked meals a week, tea and toast every morning as well as waiving the fee for original food club members over 65 until the end of the scheme.

Mark Wynn, volunteer coordinator at Langworthy who helps organise the event, said: “A big aim is to get people out of their house and come into a warm, safe zone where they can have a cooked meal.

“It might be the only fresh meal they have all week as it doesn’t make sense to do so when living alone.”

Although Langworthy Cornerstone’s food club began back in 2019, it was recently granted enough funding from Salford CVS to run this scheme which will feed even more people from September 1.

Mr Wynn noted: “With the current food and fuel crisis, the people that would be hit the most will be 65s and over.

“We know from experience that last winter some elderly were sitting in the gateways of libraries to stay warm. We saw the need way back last year.”

Recent studies from the Office of National statistic found the most common reasons reported by adults for their increased cost of living were:

an increase in the price of their food shop (94%)
an increase in gas or electricity bills (82%)
an increase in the price of fuel (77%)

Aside from the economic factors, Mr Wynn said: “It’s not just for food and fuel, it’s the social aspect as well.

“We know from the pandemic that isolation had the biggest impact on mental health. We knew from that it was essential for people to socialize and have a reason to go out.

“The people we were talking to were desperately lonely and required just a simple conversation with another human being. It’s paramount that we have the right people to help with that.”

According to Age UK, more than 2 million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.

Wynn commented: “It’s been a good transition but how that works moving forward I don’t know, because money and food will become more scarce as the demand gets higher, and you can’t please every bodies needs unfortunately.”

More information can be found here, along with contact details to get involved.