Monk Bretton Lunch Club

Government Cutbacks affect Lunch Club at Monk Bretton

On-going austerity measures imposed by the Government upon Local Authorities have had a serious effect upon the Lunch Club at Monk Bretton. We were being served by the Special Needs trainee team of the Cudworth and Brierley Unit every Wednesday, catering for approximately thirty people. Cutbacks forced the Cudworth and Brierley Unit to withdraw completely, leaving us without a Lunch Club for several weeks.

The Barnsley North Unit came to our aid, wanting to do what they could to help us to continue serving lunches, with the result that they are sending in their catering team once a fortnight. They are able to cater for just over twenty people, so numbers of diners have had to be cut. That was a difficult decision to make, and putting it into practice quite painful for John and Sheila Wilcock who manage the Lunch Club for us. They excercised great compassion and concern and have succeeded in reducing the number of diners. Unfortunately, because food costs have risen, so the price of dinner will have to go up. So from the end of March a cooked dinner and hot pudding will cost £4.00, a rise of £1.00.

Despite that, a very positive and happy atmosphere exists, and we are of course very grateful to the Barnsley North Unit for stepping in to keep us running.