Just £6 for a two course lunch and a cup of tea
12 noon every Tuesday in Marple Senior Citizens' Hall
Starting 9 January in 2024
Please share this information with elderly parents, grandparents or neighbours who may not have access to it themselves.
Serving the Senior Citizens of Marple since 1967
In September 1967 the Marple Senior Citizens' Hall was opened. The land had been donated and funds raised by public subscription with help from Marple Urban District Council and Cheshire County Council. Prior to its opening a public meeting had been held asking for volunteers to cook for a Luncheon Club for the Senior Citizens of Marple, under the umbrella of Marple Women's Voluntary Service.
Criteria were that those enjoying the service had to be resident in Marple and be of pensionable age. At this time there were many retired Mill workers still living. A kitchen at the rear of the building was built and equipped for cooking. Within a short time, teams of 6-8 WVS volunteers cooked up to 100 meals per day from Monday to Thursday for a Meals on Wheels service, with extra meals being provided on Tuesdays and Thursdays by a local residential home on Buxton Lane, when the Luncheon Club took place.
This continued until the mid-1990s when the meals for the Meals on Wheels service were replaced by reheated meals collected from a Local Authority's residential home, after a newspaper report cited 'WRVS Meals on Wheels was providing meals prepared by unqualified cooks'.
Undeterred, the lunch club continued, however it now based itself entirely in the Senior Citizens' Hall, where it provided meals for up to 40 people. There have been many changes since then, notably the dropping of the W from the WRVS as it is now an inclusive charity that welcomes volunteers of any gender.
The Marple RVS Lunch Club is still welcoming diners every Tuesday
They still serve up the same delicious and nourishing homemade meals that they always have done however, as is the way with the modern world, the cooks are no longer ‘unqualified’ and have to complete mandatory food hygiene training before they can volunteer.
