A longstanding weekly lunch club for older people at a Darlington community centre is set to continue thanks to new funding from a County Durham employer.
The volunteer-run Willow Road Community Centre hosts the lunch club every Wednesday alongside Age UK, which provides a free hot meal, bingo and a quiz session, as well as the chance for people to spend time together in a welcoming environment.
Around half of the lunch club participants are either housebound or have mobility problems which prevent them from using conventional transport to get to the north Darlington venue, meaning they are unable to attend the event without outside help and that it might not have been feasible for the lunch club to continue with reduced numbers.
But now, a £2,000 grant from the Banks Group’s Banks Community Fund has allowed the Community Centre team to pay for the cost of hiring an accessible bus and its driver to provide door-to-door transport for around ten elderly people for the rest of the year.
And with the lunch club’s future secured, the Centre is now ready to welcome more older local people along.
The Willow Road Community Centre hosts a wide variety of other community events and activities every day of the week, including the local Brownies and Rainbows groups, judo and taekwondo clubs, yoga classes and a parent & toddler group.
Alongside its main programme of activities, the lunch club also occasionally welcomes outside speakers, with representatives from the local police and fire service recently speaking to the group about safety in their homes.
Diane Evans, chair at the Willow Road Community Centre, says: “There’s always a really good atmosphere at the lunch club, and we find that the social side of the gathering is just as important as the meals that we offer, with many firm friendships having formed through the years over a bite to eat.
“Coming along can be the only time in the week that many of our members get to leave their homes or have the chance to talk to and spend time with other people, and we see the difference that it makes to everyone’s well-being every single week.
“Members’ use of walking frames and wheelchairs means that using conventional public transport to get to us wasn’t a realistic option, and without resolving this transport issue, there was a real possibility that there wouldn’t have been enough people attending the lunch club to make it possible to continue.
“As a small, volunteer-run organisation, we simply didn’t have the fund available to cover the cost ourselves, so we’re really grateful to the Banks Group for enabling us to now do so.
“Their support will make such a difference to the lives of all of our members and we’d love to see more local people coming along to enjoy our hospitality.”
Banks is the business behind the proposed Beaumont Hill residential development to the north of Darlington, close to the Willow Road Community Centre, which would see up to 600 homes on a 35-hectare site to the south of the River Skerne that identified for residential development in the 2022 Darlington Borough Local Plan.
Substantial areas of public open space, a small retail convenience store unit and a range of biodiversity enhancements also feature in the project design.
Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: “The energy and commitment of the Willow Road Community Centre team make such a positive difference to the area, with the lunch club being just one example of the great work they do.
“It’s very clear just how much club members enjoy their weekly get-togethers and we’re very pleased to be able to help them continue to do so.”
The Banks Group’s community funds are independently managed by Point North (formerly the County Durham Community Foundation).
Anyone from a community close to a Banks Group project who is interested in applying for funding from the Banks Community Fund should contact the company via its website enquiry form (www.banksgroup.co.uk/contact-us/) to find out if their group or project is eligible.