A BRAND new idea designed to help those living in isolation within the community could soon be established in Tavistock.

'Wheels to Meals' is an innovative plan by Tavistock Area Support Services (TASS) aimed at bringing people to The Anchorage Centre on a Sunday to enjoy a traditional roast with many other people who may otherwise be alone.

TASS's general manager Andy Lyle said: 'Wheels to Meals is for anyone who is lonely on a Sunday who doesn't have family. It gives those who are living in isolation in our community a traditional Sunday with food and chat and activities.

'The idea is that rather than taking the food to the people we bring the people to the food.'

Wheels to Meals could be in place for autumn this year if TASS is successful in applying to Awards for All for a £10,000 grant, which would pay for the first six months of the scheme.

If successful Mr Lyle said the Sunday lunch club would be highly valued by people from across West Devon.

'It would fill the void for people on a Sunday and will provide a social environment that wouldn't normally be available to them,' he said.

People who want to be involved in the Sunday lunch club would be collected from their homes by the TASS minibus and brought to the centre for 11am where they would enjoy morning coffee and a natter followed by a roast dinner and a film in the afternoon, before they were taken home by the minibus at 4pm.

If Wheels to Meals is successful it would result in the Anchorage Centre being open seven days a week, 365 days a year, providing valuable service to the people of West Devon who are over 55, those with mobility difficulties and the socially isolated.

Heather Rayne, who runs the Wednesday lunch club at TASS with Christine Farrance, said she has seen how significant the lunch club has been over its five year existence to people living in the local area who are living in isolation.

'We work closely with people who are in their 70s and 80s, some in their 90s, and a mixture of those people come for social interaction as well as for the food.

'Sundays can be lonely for people, especially if you are disabled. The Sunday lunch club could give people a really good opportunity to make some friends.'