A bite to eat with friends at the local church

“We had a single lady called Barbara living in the village who had absolutely no living family except a distant cousin. She was concerned about her health as she was aware that she was having memory ‘lapses’. She rarely went out and always seemed sad and down. She started coming to the lunch and then got more involved by helping with laying tables etc. and she was noticeably happier.”

St David’s Church provides Christian worship in the village of Capel Dewi and undertakes activities that will meet the needs of the local community. They were awarded a grant of £1,066 to help provide a monthly village community lunch in the church hall for anyone in the village and surrounding locality but especially for older people or those living alone.

The lunch club started in February 2017 and quickly proved to be a popular event. As numbers of attendees increased the church volunteers found preparing a lunch with the existing church hall kitchen facilities quite a challenge so used the grant to purchase the necessary equipment for catering this monthly event.

The church’s monthly lunch has provided a regular meeting place for the community to come together and socialise over a meal in a relaxed and informal family friendly environment. It provides the opportunity for people to meet up with existing friends and gives those who live alone a reason to get out and make new friends.

The lunch has really helped to combat isolation and loneliness. Those who are not able to attend really appreciate a monthly call to see how they are and whether they are able to come and in some cases meals have been delivered to people who are not well enough to make the journey to the hall.