Nottingham City Council’s Meals at Home delivery service is providing much-needed reassurance to relatives of elderly and vulnerable residents during the coronavirus pandemic.

Meals at Home is a low-cost service available to all city residents. As well as delivering hot meals, the service also provides families and relatives with regular wellbeing updates on their loved ones.  This gives the added reassurance that a caring member of staff will check that their loved one is safe, comfortable and benefiting from regular engagement – something that is particularly important right now.

Fully-trained staff follow strict procedures to monitor the welfare of people they deliver to and have direct access to local care and emergency services, should they need extra support. 

Kevin Bucknall, from Clifton, uses Meals at Home for his elderly mother. He said:  “My family made the decision to sign mum up to Meals at Home around 18 months ago. She suffers from dementia, so knowing that she’s getting a hot meal delivered seven days a week and she’s not leaving the house during lockdown, gives us all so much peace of mind and takes a huge amount of pressure off.

 “The meals are lovely and good sized portions – I’d happily eat them! The team is flexible too, meaning that we can call the office to make changes to the menu every week if we wanted to. Mum really looks forward to her meals and daily chats with the lovely staff.

“My family and I can’t thank the Meals at Home team enough and would highly recommend their fantastic service to anyone.”

Meals at Home includes a choice of over 100 hot, chilled and frozen meals delivered straight to the home – with packages from just £14.50 per week. As well as all the usual favourites, the diverse menu includes a wide selection of vegetarian, halal, Indian, Afro-Caribbean, pureed, soft minced, a range of sandwiches and salads, and a huge choice of desserts – all available to suit individual dietary requirements.

Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Education and Employment, Neghat Khan, said: “I am pleased to say that our Meals at Home service benefits around 300 elderly and vulnerable residents across Nottingham each week. 

“Our meals at home service is ideal for those not eligible for free emergency food parcels or for whom a food parcel isn’t suitable, but wishing to receive a daily hot food delivery from a friendly face or a weekly delivery to stock up their fridge or freezer.

“I understand that many of our elderly and vulnerable residents will be feeling extremely isolated during these unusual times and that many families will be worried about their relatives. They are not alone – we have a committed, professional and genuinely caring Meals at Home team ready to help you and your family.” 

How to sign up to Meals at Home  

1.    Call the Meals at Home team on 0115 876 1847 to arrange a consultation. 

2.    A member of the team will conduct the consultation over the phone (normally carried out in person, at home) to find out the following:

o    Individual needs and requirements 

o    Cooking facilities at home  

o    Allergies, likes and dislikes 

3.    A package will be recommended or choose from one of 6

4.    First meal delivered – daily or weekly, depending on package

5.   Pay by direct debit or card over phone 

6.    Review and amend – most residents enjoy a 5 week rotating menu, amend weekly or some choose a bespoke plan

For more information and detailed brochure, please visit: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/mealsathome