Partnerships and Community Spirit
Armidale/Uralla Meals on Wheels has a rich history of working with other community groups both as a recipient and deliverer of goods and services.
We have benefitted from a long history with Armidale’s service organisation groups (Rotary, Lions, Probus, CWA etc) who have always been involved in our roster of volunteer drivers as well as in other areas of our service.
More recently we have enjoyed the rewards of partnering with Pathfinders whose project at the Tilbuster Farm provided us with many a fresh vegetable!
2016 – Pathfinders Tilbuster Farm
In the last few years we have been working to host students who seek to learn more about the Community Service sector. They usually spend part of the day with us and learn about the service and how we operate, then viewing the kitchen service process before going out with our volunteers to deliver some meals to our clients.
We have hosted first year medical students from the University of New England (UNE) to fulfil part of their second semester community service placements; we also enjoyed having senior students from the Community & Family Services (CAFS) elective class at the New England Girls School (NEGS).
image credit David Gee
2017 Armidale Central Rotary regular meal delivery volunteers with NEGS students.
Daniel
In 2017 we also partnered with the New England Community College to host the placement portion of the Certificate II in Hospitality course.
Our chef worked with this group of students to meet their practical learning outcomes.
Related images show Daniel and Amy during the hands-on learning sessions.
Amy
2016 Coordinator Jo Heslin and Chef Kellie Madden with Dave from OzHarvest and donated goods.
From 2015-2017 we provided an outlet for the collection of donated food items through the REAP by OzHarvest Program. This program allows members of the community to access food that they would otherwise not be able to afford, which had been donated from supermarkets or shops in Armidale.
Since 2017, as one of the organisations helping to provide food relief in Armidale, we work with other groups supporting vulnerable community members by making available any un-used produce or meals that can be utilised by the Armidale Neigbourhood Centre, Armidale Community CareVan, Freeman House and the Armidale Youth or Women’s Refuges. Similarly, we receive donated produce from a variety of sources, including some very generous gardeners around the area who are happy to share the spoils of their gardening labour.
