A man who is delivering "lifeline" hot meals to approximately 800 elderly people every week is appealing for urgent support as he revealed he has had to turn some people away due to increased demand.
Dad-of-four Matt Williamson launched the Nancy's Larder meals on wheels service after his mum was diagnosed with dementia.
Living with the condition meant that his mum struggled with even reheating frozen microwave meals and Matt, who was not a fan of the food choices available to her, was determined to offer something better for people in her situation, Hull Live reports.
Matt, from Hull, said: "My mum deteriorated quickly and was forced to leave the home she loved and went into a care home. I couldn't help my mum but I knew that I had to make a difference to the lives of the elderly in our communities.
“I wanted to do something to prolong the independence and to ultimately improve the lives of the elderly in our communities. This inspired me to create Nancy's Larder.”
That was seven years ago, with Matt cooking and delivering just eight hot meals in the first week; now, it is 800 meals a week all over Hull and scattered locations across the East Riding, with the deliveries undertaken for free.
He said: "I lost my mum in the first wave of Covid. It was a terrible thing at a terrible time but I had hundreds of other people’s mums to look after.
“I don’t think anyone really realises that there isn’t a meals on wheels service through the local authority anymore, until you need one.
The problem I have now is having to say no far more than I say yes to other people needing Nancy’s Larder,” said Matt, who is trying to make the move towards becoming a Community Interest Company, a type of organisation that can use its profits and assets for the public good.
He feels that with social enterprise status he can tap into more areas of support to expand the coverage he is now limited in giving, and has been in discussion with the HEY Smile Foundation.
He hopes there may be others with experience out there who can offer advice and help in getting Nancy’s Larder onto a better footing.
Matt said: "I had a lady ring up who was five miles away from my end-point on deliveries, in Holderness. She was 88, had broken her hip and been discharged from hospital and had got nothing.
She is ringing me, desperate, and I am having to say I can’t do it, and it’s an awful situation to be in. It’s equally awful that we are in this situation as a society at all.”
Matt, who employs ten staff, works seven days a week and only takes Christmas Day off.
He said: "I do what I do because I love it, I haven’t turned a profit in seven years and I’ll keep going whatever happens. I never did it to become a millionaire, but there’s this massive need we are trying to fulfil as best we can.
“Daily I am saying no to someone in the East Riding and it is a crying shame.
"Some volunteers on a practical level would really help – say, if someone lives in Hornsea, for example, and can take a couple of hours out of their day and come and collect meals and deliver them in their local community or take them to people in more outlying areas, that would be a massive help to Nancy’s Larder.
“And I would really welcome contact from anyone who has experience in taking a business down the charity route, or can offer any support in ways that won’t have occurred to me because I’m not aware of those possibilities.”
Visit Nancy's Larder to find out more about the service and how to contact Matt Williamson.
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