News
Meals on Wheels – about so much more than food
It’s a simple concept – delivering a daily meal to those who can’t cook for themselves – but the knock-on effect is immense.
COPE Galway’s Community Catering Meals on Wheels has been delivering nutritious meals to those who are unable to cook for themselves for over 40 years in Galway.
Ann – not her real name – first started using the Community Catering service when her husband, who sadly passed away earlier this year, was ill.
It became a routine for the couple – a tasty, nutritious healthy meal a few times a week, and a much-needed break for Ann, who had been caring for her husband for some years before he passed away.
Having taken ill recently herself, Ann has been using the service again, and says she is so grateful to have such a service, literally on her doorstep.
“I’ve always thought it was a fantastic service – the food is of excellent quality, and so tasty. Because I’ve been ill, I’m not able to cook now and it is fantastic to get that meal.
“You get dinner and soup, which you could then have in the evening with a sandwich. It’s a lovely meal, and you’re getting all your nutrients. Six euro for a complete dinner is nothing, really,” she says.
While Ann still has family living close by, she lives on her own and says she always looks forward to seeing the COPE Galway volunteer arriving at the door.
“The staff are so pleasant and nice. Fiona, who delivers my food, is so lovely. Any time she calls, she’s so respectful and so kind.”
COPE Galway’s Community Catering is much more than just a meal delivery service. All of COPE Galway’s committed volunteers ensure that they make contact with clients when dropping off their meal, even if it’s just a quick ‘hello’.
The volunteer will often be the first to notice any changes in a person’s wellbeing and can let COPE Galway know if they’re concerned.
So apart from satisfying the practical and nutritional needs of the client, there’s also the social and well-being element.
According to its 2015 Annual Report, COPE Galway worked with 565 older people in need of nutritional and social supports.
In 2015, COPE Galway produced and delivered over 55,000 meals to 401 older people through its Meals on Wheels service and catered for over 80 people weekly across seven Lunch Clubs in Galway City.
In addition, the COPE Galway Community Support Service and Sonas Day Centre supported 84 people over the course of the year.
Joseph – again not his real name – has been volunteering for COPE Galway for 35 years delivering meals, but he has also begun using the Community Catering service in recent months.
“My wife has Alzheimer’s and my daughter said, ‘Why don’t you start using the Community Catering service for you both?’.
“It can be such a pain trying to plan meals and trying to think of something different every day. Then, by the time you’re finished with everything else, it’s dinner time and you don’t have anything cooked!
“So, every Monday, my wife and I get two meals. Sometimes, we nearly get two dinners out of one,” he says.
Joseph sees the voluntary work he does as, not only providing an excellent food service, but also offering a social connection to those who might not see anyone else that day.
“It’s happened over the course of the years that someone has been ill. If we don’t get an answer, we automatically call COPE Galway, and they call the person’s next of kin.
“There are some people who are bedridden, and so we go in, drop off the meal, and if there’s some little problem, you might be able sort it out and get something done about it.
“I bring a paper to one man every week and we have a great chat about the football. When you’re calling every week, you get to know them. You’re a lifeline to some people.
“Others are just happy for you to deliver the meal, say ‘hello’ and leave, and that’s fine – everyone’s entitled to their privacy. For others, it’s contact. I’m personally happy to do it.
“I believe if we’re lucky enough to enjoy health, we should give something back. It’s fulfilling and you make friends on the route as well,” he adds.
COPE Galway recently launched its Pre-Budget Submission, in which it is calling on Government to make additional funds available for Meals on Wheels so that a greater number of people across County Galway can benefit from the service, where none currently exists, and so remain living independently in their own homes.
But this week the charity is also running a new initiative – as part of this week’s Positive Ageing Week – which will also help bring meals to older people.
“€1 More Brings a Meal to the Door” will run in a number of hotels and restaurants across Galway.
The aim is to raise money by offering an option to add €1 to the price of their meal to support COPE Galway Community Catering Meals on Wheels for older people.
■ For more information, visit www.facebook.com/copegalway
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
