Hairy Bikers to Save Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels is a valuable service that delivers meals to the homes of older people. With the recent cuts in funding and services, this service too is finding it increasingly difficult to survive in today’s harsh economy. This is the main reason for the start of Hairy Bikers’ Meals on Wheels.

“Hairy Bikers” David Meyers and Simon King are the hosts of the four-part BBC series. Their focus is to get funding not only to save the existing Meals on Wheels service, but also to expand and improve it.

In addition to the declining number of food deliveries, David and Simon were also concerned with the quality of the food being prepared. With today’s difficult budget situation, many councils have changed the focus from hot, fresh meals delivered daily to a bulk delivery of frozen lunches.

With their series, David and Simon are campaigning to give older people what they deserve: hot lunches prepared with fresh ingredients. In addition, they also believe that older people deserve a smile and a chat with their food.

David and Mike said: “For us, good food is important and we’ve seen for ourselves the benefits it can bring to other people, not only from our time on the series, but from our personal experience too.”

The passion for food combined with their concern for older folk came from both bikers’ experiences with their parents. David’s mother came down with multiple sclerosis when he was only eight years old. His role for the family was to cook their meals.

In Simon’s case, the family was also obliged to provide his older mother with meals when no Meals on Wheels service was available for her.

Availability is then one of the top priorities of the Hairy Bikers series. At least at the same level of importance is the quality of the food.

With their series, the bikers are encouraging Meals on Wheels kitchens to go fresh rather than frozen.

Another important component is the personal touch. For David and Simon, it is vital to check in with the recipients of the meals. This provides a human touch in the form of a smile and a chat, and could even be life saving.

In this way, the hairy bikers have made a very important point: If we are lucky, old age is inevitable. Investing in services like Meals on Wheels today will ensure their availability in our future, when we need them ourselves.

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