David Wells reports on the biggest challenge facing the meals-on-wheels service - recruiting enough volunteers.

If volunteer Mark Llewellyn did not give up an hour of his time every day, pensioner Ruth Calvert would probably go without a decent daily meal.

She could probably manage to heat up some tinned food by herself but she is now too frail to cook a full dinner.

It is only thanks to the effort and dedication of the 35 people like Mr Llewellyn and the organisers at the Hove Meals-on-Wheels, run by the Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS), that more than 200 people stay well fed with a healthy meal every day.

The team even turns out on Christmas Day when volunteers take their clients a card and a gift.

It is a touch of the festive spirit which some would otherwise miss out on.

Mrs Calvert, 88, of Hove, does get visits from friends and relatives but still relies on the help of the WRVS and volunteers for her daily hot meal.

She said: "I think it is marvellous. I could not get by without them.

"I have a meal delivered every day. I am not so good on my feet so I can't really just pop out to the shops.

"The thing is that, not being able to cook easily, I have come to rely on it.

"If there was no such thing as meals-on-wheels I am not sure what I would do.

"I do have a lady who comes and she does some shopping for me. I expect she would get me a few tins and things.

"I suppose I could just about manage but I can't really cook a meal anymore and you can't really live on tins of soup.

"It's a very important service and I am very thankful for it."

Volunteers deliver an average of 25 meals each day, plus extras when people are signed up to the service temporarily such as patients who have just come out of hospital. In Brighton and Hove, more than 163,000 meals are delivered each year.

There are also WRVS offices in Portslade and Brighton which turn out similarly high volumes of food, with only handfuls of volunteers to deliver them.

The Hove team is co-

ordinated by Ann Johnson, the area organiser who gets about in a wheelchair buggy, and two office assistants.

She runs the office, sorts out meal rounds and deals with most of the calls.

The mountain of food is cooked by Pauline Pulinger and Veronica West who man the kitchens at the office in Olive Road.

Mrs Johnson said: "I think the volunteers find it very rewarding. It is giving something back to the community.

"I would like to think this service would be running if I ever need it in years to come.

"It is a very nice thing to be able to help out others less fortunate than yourself."

For Mr Llewellyn, from Hove, the service has given him a new focus and drive in life after he suffered mental health problems five years ago.

He has been a volunteer ever since but said the work had helped get his life back in order.

He said: "It is very rewarding. You get to meet people and chat to them and a lot of people need this service so it is good to get involved."

This year the theme of the week has been the Full Circle Campaign which aims to tackle social isolation.

Volunteers are often the only contact clients have during the day so the team is also making sure people keep contact with the community.

Doreen and Fred Norfolk, of West Way, Hangleton, Hove, have helped out for 14 years.

Mr Norfolk said: "We do more than just deliver the meals sometimes.

"Often I fix a shelf, screw off a jar lid or post letters for people and pop to the shops."

Clients range from the elderly to the disabled to those suffering from mental health problems. Some who have had strokes or other serious health problems start by signing up for meals-on-wheels as a temporary measure but are still getting them years later.

Existing volunteers say they enjoy getting out to meet people and say it is rewarding getting to know them and providing people with help.

This includes pensioner Bernard Pemberton, who has just come out of hospital for a hip operation but still turned up for duty with his walking stick.

He said: "Well, you have to do your bit. I can still get out and about so I will."

Sometimes the organisers are so desperate for helpers and drivers they have to call taxis to deliver the meals and rely on people such as cabbie Peter Lowe, a regular who knocks off for an hour to offer his service.

Mrs Johnson said: "We are always desperate for volunteers. We just need people to come forward and give up just an hour of their time.

"There are about 297 people in the area who need our help. They are relying on a small army of people coming in. We are talking about a very low number for the amount of meals."

The youngest volunteer is Mrs Johnson's son, Damien, 15, who helps out in his lunch break from Blatchington Mill School in Hove.

The service allows many to remain in their own homes long after they would otherwise have been taken into hospital or residential care.

To qualify for meals-on-wheels, social services has to assess the client and then make a request to the WRVS which runs the contract for the service for Brighton and Hove City Council.

The contract runs in the same way as a contracted company but the service is entirely voluntary, run on the proceeds from fund-

raising drives, with the council covering the cost of food, cooking and petrol.

Each client pays £2 a day for their two-course meal and they get a choice from a daily menu.

The dishes range from cottage or steak and kidney pie and vegetables to chicken chasseur, fish or pork and vegetable casserole, plus many more.

Desserts tend to be something like Bakewell tart, apple and blackberry crumble or lemon sponge.

Irene Lynch, who is disabled, said: "I am very grateful to them because I can't stand up and cook myself.

"The food is not bad for the money. It is very good of them all to do something for others."