New Journal readers’ Hamper Appeal donations help boost luncheon clubs for the elderly

FOR some, it’s the offer of a healthy three-course meal at a price they can afford, while for others it’s about getting out of the house to meet friends. 

Across Camden, luncheon clubs run by community centres have never been so popular, offering a subsidised slap-up lunch for older people. 

And now with the help of the New Journal’s dedicated readership, pensioners are looking forward to a few extra treats this spring.

Our annual Hamper Appeal, which gives our readers the chance to help those less fortunate than themselves to enjoy the festive season, raised so much cash over Christmas, we even had some funds left over: and so we’ve been touring the borough’s luncheon clubs this week to hand over surprise donations of £400 a piece on your behalf – a total of £1,200. 

And with public services such as community centres feeling the pinch in these hard times, your help means luncheon clubs can keep subsidising meals to ensure they continue to be affordable for people who need a helping hand.

Down at St Pancras Community Centre on Camden Street, up to 30 older people gather every day for a three-course meal freshly cooked by staff in the centre’s kitchens. And from the raucous giggling and happy banter coming from a table of women, it is a trip many look forward to.

Jennifer Rogers, Mary Michaels, Theresa Tasselli, Nellie Francis, Ada Williams and Kathleen Finnerty sit together at least three times a week for a gossip and hearty meal. Many of them have been coming to the club for the best part of 20 years.

Ms Francis, St Pancras born and bred, has been coming to the centre since her husband Tom passed away. 

She said: “I used to cook for my husband at home, but since he died and I had a hip operation it is harder to cook for myself.”

Miss Tasselli, who travels to the club from Agar Grove, said: “It is so nice to have some company when you live alone.” 

Former nurse Ms Finnerty swapped County Mayo for Camden Town in 1947 to train at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Euston Road. She also worked as a waitress at the Oriental Club in Bond Street. She said: “I used to serve food to people there, so it’s nice to have people bring food to me.”

With specially themed meals – roast beef on St George’s Day, Irish stews on St Patrick’s Day, and a Greek Cypriot celebration to welcome in the Orthodox Christian new year – your kind gestures will help these much-loved events go with an extra swing this year.

Up at Highgate Newtown Community Centre, elderly gents were enjoying their pudding when we popped in to hand over your kind donations.

Tony Antoniads, 80, who lives in Gospel Oak, is still working – the Cypriot-born journalist produces a column each week for Greek language newspaper Parikiaki. A widower, he said: “I come here for the company – I have made so many friends here.”

Len Bridgeman, 87, who used to be a coach builder for British Rail in a workshop in Highgate Road, said: “My wife died a year ago and a friend suggested I came here. I have been coming ever since.”

And at Queen’s Crescent Community Centre, a dinner party was in full flow when we arrived. 

Megan Purver, Ivy Bishop, Betty Cordingley, Margaret Dyos and Yvonne Dobson were all tucking into a first course of freshly made vegetable soup with hunks of doorstep-sliced bread, with a main course of shepherd’s pie and vegetables to follow. 

They were all full of praise for the staff at the club, spoke of how their trips to the centre offered lovely grub at affordable prices and, of course, gave them the chance to catch up with the latest gossip.

Mrs Dobson revealed her husband George is now living in a home at the north end of Finchley Road – and it was too far for her to travel every day to visit him for lunch. She said: “Instead I come here. It means I do not have to worry about eating a healthy meal every day.”

And they added that the money donated would help towards keeping costs down and providing something a little extra for their Easter holidays lunch party.

Mrs Bishop said: “We’re all grateful to the New Journal readers for their gift.”