As has been widely documented, prices are on the up and as a charity, we are now experiencing an unprecedented 10% rise in our care meal food costs.

The Care Meal service supports vulnerable and elderly residents across Southampton by delivering nutritious hot meals to homes, along with important welfare checks. Serving 36,000 meals a year to over 180 residents the majority who are over 65 and live alone we know our meals on wheels service is a vital support for many.

Meals on Wheels customers are often supported by care packages to fund their vital meals or use their own income. Prices are kept as low as possible as we subsidise as much as they can, but we are now urgently calling for the communitys help to prevent us from passing on rising costs to our most elderly and vulnerable customers.

Martin Orman, Deputy CEO who oversees the service, commented: We run a vital service for many residents, and our demand has increased significantly throughout the pandemic. We are incredibly concerned of the impact of various rising costs on our customers for fuel, energy, and food. These rises are a result of many colliding industry pressures throughout the supply chain, but we are determined to do what we can to not pass the costs on to our customers. However, we really need to raise funds to be able to do this and are grateful for any support that the local community can offer.

The service regular reports 99% customer satisfaction in their annual surveys, and a recent piece of feedback sums up how important the support is to residents and their families: I would just like to put on record our sincere gratitude for all you and your staff have done for us. You have been an absolute lifeline to us throughout our contract with you and the meals you provided for Mum.

We are aiming to raise approximately £45 a day throughout 2022.