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- 13 September 2005
Sutherland Shire Meals On Wheels Services
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Page: 17627
Mr BARRY COLLIER (Miranda) [5.42 p.m.]: On Wednesday 31 August I had the privilege of delivering meals to shire seniors in their homes in support of National Meals on Wheels "Building Stronger Communities" Day. The morning began with visits to the Sutherland Shire Meals on Wheels headquarters at Sutherland Hospital, where I met manager, Mr Bill Judd, and his committed staff, including co-ordinator Heather Sedman, Francis Uaine, Samantha Schofield and Marian Walker. After a tour of the facility and a discussion about the organisation and its distribution network, I headed out with volunteer Mr Bert Peachey in his car to deliver lunch to seniors in Gymea Bay and Kirrawee. The seniors we visited told me that they really enjoyed their meals and looked forward to seeing and speaking with their volunteer drivers every week.
Meeting the organisers and delivering meals really made me appreciate the magnificent work of both the volunteers and committed organisers and administrators behind the scenes of Meals on Wheels. The experience of working with Meals on Wheels at Sutherland was inspirational. The Sutherland Shire Meals on Wheels commenced delivering meals on 3 July 1967 from the Sutherland Hospital for three clients who were discharged from hospital and were not able to prepare their own meals. By 1974 the hospital-based Meals on Wheels was supplying meals to 138 Sutherland shire residents a day. In 1996 Meals on Wheels services were separated from the hospital and became Sutherland Food Services Incorporated. In 1999, with the assistance of the hospital, a State Government grant and hard fundraising, Meals on Wheels moved into its own building in the hospital grounds. In February 2002 the service was accredited by the Department of Ageing, Disability And Home Care national standards.
Today with dedicated staff and the help of 140 volunteers the Sutherland Shire Meals on Wheels delivers more than 1,200 fresh, nutritious meals to aged, frail and disabled residents across the shire every week. When you consider that the service caters for individual requirements—including meals for those with diabetes, with gluten intolerance, vegetarian meals, soft food meals, and meals for people from different cultural backgrounds—week in and week out, 52 weeks a year, Sutherland Shire Meals on Wheels is a mammoth undertaking. Across New South Wales there are 220 Meals on Wheels services with a total of 35,000 volunteers who deliver meals to 20,000 clients each and every day. Meals on Wheels in the shire and across the State is more than a home delivery service. Staff and volunteers like Mr Bert Peachey, Nancye Peachey, Leo Campbell and Bert Hawkes from Sutherland Shire Meals on Wheels see to that.
Bert and Nancye Peachey have been delivering Meals on Wheels for nearly 12 years. Bert is 'the driver" and Nancy is "the runner". They have delivered meals to all parts of the shire, with Bert often doubling up and doing two deliveries per day. Such is the camaraderie among the volunteers that Bert calls himself "a youngster", a reference to the fact that some of the shire's volunteers have been delivering Meals on Wheels for more than 30 years. Staff of the Sutherland Shire service told me that "Bert is a huge asset to our service and nothing is ever a problem when it comes to helping us out." I saw that volunteer spirit, commitment and caring when I visited seniors with Bert. Like other Meals on Wheels volunteers, Bert provides that daily contact that helps to reduce the social isolation often experienced by many of our seniors who live by themselves.
Volunteers know their clients and through regular visits they are keenly aware of changes in their clients' health and wellbeing, often informing a doctor or the next of kin if there is a problem. For our aged, frail and disabled Meals on Wheels is the lifebuoy that enables them to remain in the comfort of their own home rather than reside in an aged-care or other facility. I know that the volunteers from Meals on Wheels enabled my grandmother, Violet Donnelly, to remain in her home, as she wished, until shortly before her death, aged 102 years. The Meals on Wheels organisation and its volunteers help to build and sustain stronger and more supportive communities. I thank all the volunteers, and all the organisers of the Sutherland Shire Meals on Wheels—past and present—for their dedicated service and their commitment to their many clients and to the people of the shire and their families. We, as a community, are forever in their debt.
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