Pensioners priced out of Harris lunch club - Many could starve and lose their social lifeline, says poet Eddie Linden

Published: 03 June 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

A POET has warned that pensioners could starve after lunch prices at a Westminster day centre were increased by a third.

Eddie Linden, 76, who is a regular at the Harris Community Club in Lanark Road, Maida Vale, says the elderly will be left without food after Age UK Westminster, the charity which runs the centre, this week increased the price of its hot meals from £4 to £6. 

Mr Linden, creator of legendary ­liter­ary magazine Aquarius, has vowed not to return to the centre and says he now eats at a local Lebanese restaurant, where he says he can buy a lunch of pitta bread and soup for £2.50. 

“The centre was like a little wee home for everybody,” he said. “This could lead to starvation for the poor because often they have no one to cook for them.

“Many people who go there are unable to cook because they can’t move. But at these prices we just can’t afford it any more.” 

Pensioners are taken to the luncheon club in ambulances and often spend the entire day socialising after enjoying their lunch. 

The oldest member of the group is a 105-year-old woman who attends three times a week. 

Mr Linden says he has calculated that a pensioner who eats at the Harris club five times a week will now pay £40 extra each month.

He said that the alternative of eating out in cafés lacked the “social aspect” of day centres.

“You can’t stay in a restaurant all day,” added Mr Linden. “Our centre had exercise classes, computers, and we all knew each other. The centre was so innovative, but all of a sudden it’s no longer accessible to a lot of us.”

Age UK Westminster say they were recently informed that they will no longer receive the same level of funding from the council, forcing them to pass costs on to the pensioners they serve.

The organisation’s director, Alex Dalton  said: “We are a charity run on a very tight bud­get. We are working together with Westminster Council to work out the best way forward.”

Councillor Daniel Astaire, Westminster’s cabinet member for adult services and health, said: “We currently provide a grant to help with the running of this centre but rightly do not dictate the level of any charges that are set by the provider. 

“The decision to increase prices was exclusively that of Age Concern.

“With the increasing demand for care services and an increasing pressure on health and social care budgets it’s clear that as a council we need to rethink the way that we offer our services so that we can continue to provide as much support as possible to as many people as necessary.

“As such, we are currently looking to redesign the way we deliver drop-in services, moving to a hub-based solution, to ensure we are providing better and more efficient preven­tative care that continues to offer support to our most vulnerable residents.”