The ‘heartbreaking’ closure that will leave vulnerable people feeling ‘neglected and disappointed’

A charity lunch club that helps the elderly fight social isolation is being forced to close after Oldham council withdrww funding.

The event organised by Age UK Oldham runs six days a week but will now hold its last meals in September. 

The news leaves elderly residents feeling ‘disappointed’ and ‘neglected’, according to Royton councillor Lisa Hughes. 

The lunch clubs run across the borough on different days, in Royton, Lees, Chadderton,  Hathershaw, Shaw and Failsworth. Visitors pay a subsidised £5.50 fee for a three-course meal where they can socialise with their peers. 

The closure comes after the club, which serves around 200 elderly residents, has struggled to secure alternative funding for two years. A recent bid for the Lottery Community Fund was unsuccessful, leaving them £50,000 short of the money needed to keep the club running. 

Age UK Oldham’s Chief Executive Yvonne Lee and Oldham councillor Barbara Brownridge, the cabinet member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing released a joint statement on the closure. 

The statement read: “Oldham Council and Age UK Oldham have worked really hard together with the aim of luncheon clubs becoming self-sustaining and able to provide an inclusive service to residents across the borough. …

“Despite the joint work undertaken the luncheon clubs will close in September 2024, during this time the council and Age UK Oldham continue to work closely together on how best they can move forward to ensure older people receive the support they require.”

Yvonne Lee added that it was ‘difficult’ finding new funders as many ‘don’t fund existing services’.

“It’s not classed as ‘innovative’,” Lee said. “But we are providing a service older people want.”

A number of councillors have spoken out against the decision, with Royton’s coun Hughes saying older people ‘rely heavily on support, friendship, and weekly meal provided by the club’ which is the ‘highlight of their week’ for many people. She raised concerns about the ‘severe impact on their mental health’ the closure could have. 

Alicia Marland councillor for Saddleworth West and Lees, added: “I am truly heartbroken for these elderly folk as for many it is their only opportunity to socialise or leave their home each week and enjoy a meal with others”.

Marland is appealing to people and businesses in the borogh to consider providing financial assistance to the program.