Winner - Meet and Eats Diner
The Meet n Eats Diner helps people make friends, beat social isolation and get a good three course hot meal, all for free! The diner is run by volunteers, who set up, cook the meals from scratch in their own homes, serve the meals and clean and tidy up too.
Some of the diner guests don't or can’t cook for themselves and are experiencing loneliness with little to no support network. Guests can sit and enjoy their home cooked meal with friends and find out what else goes on in the community.
The group also provides a minibus which collects guests and has waiting staff who look after those attending. The diner is self-funded with donations from guests and small grants.
2nd - Crofton Darby and Joan
Crofton Darby and Joan is a group that provides activities and events on a regular basis throughout the year for the older generation. The members of the group that organise and deliver the programme are incredibly passionate, enthusiastic and welcoming to everyone that attends.
The activities, events and trips throughout the year go a long way toward tackling loneliness and social isolation in the community. People that attend have a great time at catching up with old friends as well as making new ones.
The group focus is on providing activities that are fun and encourage people to socialise and interact with each other. They have recently organised trips to Scarborough and Southport and have arranged for entertainers to sing at their sessions.
3rd - Friends of Millgarth
Friends of Millgarth is a relatively new group, established in 2019, which has gone from strength to strength. Although the committee is only relatively small, the impact the group have is varied and widespread.
Each year the group members set themselves several projects and events to deliver that are realistic and achievable. These include regular weekly bingo sessions, coffee morning, Halloween and Easter events and craft afternoons.
For the craft afternoons, the group approached WDH for Communities Together funding which allowed the group to buy materials for new crafting projects and provide refreshments for those that attended. The group also arranges regular trips to garden centres and local pubs for lunch, often linking up with groups from other independent living schemes.