Second site for vital senior service

IN response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Ballarat has opened a second Meals on Wheels facility to cater for the community’s growing demand for the service.

The new location is based at the Eureka Centre and makes use of the site’s commercial kitchen amenities.

The new site has been opened, in part, to ensure that Meals on Wheels can continue should the existing kitchen in Wendouree become compromised by COVID-19.

Mayor Cr Ben Taylor said the city wanted to make sure that the community’s most vulnerable were properly looked after.

“We wanted to ensure we still maintained our valuable levels of care and engagement throughout this critical time,” he said.

“We have reacted quickly and adapted our way of delivering meals, so it is contactless while still allowing us to provide the service to even more Ballarat residents.”

Current volunteers are also taking some time off and have been replaced by 40 new drivers, many of whom were affected by the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre closure.

Deliverers currently to not enter a recipients home to give them the meal but instead will place outside their front door.

The drivers will then knock on the resident’s door, step back to a safe distance and conduct a quick welfare chat before heading off.