A council has been urged to continue funding winter lunch clubs for the elderly as the season fast approaches after hundreds were supported last year.

More than 900 elderly, vulnerable or isolated people in the Ribble Valley received help last winter through community warm spaces, lunch clubs or Christmas meals, according to estimates in a council financial report as further spending is considered.

There are 25 warm space or lunch club projects registered in a Ribble Valley Council directory, but not all clubs want to appear in it, councillors are advised in the report.

Now, councillors are being asked to consider further cash support for projects this winter and beyond.

In recent meetings, a number of Ribble Valley councillors including Tony Austin have urged the council to keep supporting lunch clubs.

It comes as the process to set next year’s budget moves forward and against a backdrop including rising costs, council pressures and the recent winter fuel payments debate.

In the Ribble Valley, 94.3 per cent of pensioners will lose the winter fuel payment after Labour restricted the cash handout to just those on Pension Credit. Of the 14,290 older people in the borough, just 809 will keep the payment under Labour’s change.

Ribble Valley Council’s lunch club grant scheme has been widened over recent years because of challenges faced by voluntary groups, according to a new report to the Policy & Finance Committee.

Local projects have been supported since Lancashire County Council removed its Meals on Wheels funding in 2015, and smaller Christmas lunch grants were added in 2019.

Organisations which receive grants include community, charity and religious groups, and the Community Voluntary Service (CVS) network tries to find volunteers to help organisations in need.

The council report states: “In the immediate period after Covid in 2022, the number and frequency of lunch clubs dramatically reduced to just 12 from 20 previously.

"The recent cost-of-living crisis has dramatically increased the cost of heating venues and providing food, which has further affected the continued viability of lunch clubs.”

Details of last year’s cash allocations by Ribble Valley Council are included in the report.  In the 2023-24 financial year, awards of £800 each were given to the following lunch clubs:

  • Sabden,
  • Slaidburn,
  • Chipping Congregational Chapel,
  • Clitheroe Community Church,
  • Longridge Thursday Club,
  • Wilpshire
  • The Trinity Church and Community Hub in Clitheroe.

A lower award of £500 went to Tosside Tuesday Club,and £400 each went to:

  • Waddington Warm Spaces,
  • Whalley Elevenses coffee morning,
  • Waddington Leisure Club & Methodist Church.

Elsewhere, awards of £300 each went to Grindleton Warm Space and Whalley and District Lions Club.

In the same period, Christmas lunch support totalling £5,000 went to a host of locations across the borough. Grants of £250 each were awarded to the following organisations, events or places:

  • Wilpshire Methodist Church, 
  • Newton in Bowland,
  • Whalley Elevenses,
  • Grindleton Pavilion,
  • West Bradford Village Hall,
  • Read Parish Council,
  • Rimington Pavilion,
  • Thursday market at Longridge Civic Hall,
  • Hurst Green Community Coffee Shop,
  • West Bradford Village Hall,
  • Waddington Leisure Club,
  • Hodder Valley Lunch Club and Slaidburn,
  • Chipping Welfare Committee,
  • The Pendle Club in Clitheroe,
  • Wilpshire Methodist Church,
  • Ribchester Sports and Social Club,
  • The Tuesday Club at Bolton-by-Bowland, 
  • Chipping Congregational Church,
  • Trinity Church and Community Hub in Clitheroe,
  • St Mary’s Church in Mellor.

The council report adds: “Local services have worked together to improve accessibility to lunch clubs and warm spaces.

"For example, there is now a new bus service covering the Hodder Valley. The Little Green Bus continues to develop its offer and expand volunteers to cover more rural areas.

“More services are undertaking rural outreach projects, making full use of lunch clubs to connect with vulnerable and isolated residents.

"This area of work aligns with tackling issues of loneliness, affordable warmth and social isolation in the community

“It is recommended that Ribble Valley Council continues to support lunch club activity with the provision of grants on an annual basis going forward.

"The current budget allocation is ample to cover the needs of the activities and the financial support is highly appreciated by organisations and residents.”