A SOCIAL enterprise in Denbighshire has launched a new meals-on-wheels service with a difference – by delivering the ingredients for meals accompanied by a video showing them how they should be cooked.

Landlady Sarah Kenrick, from The Grouse Inn, in Carrog, is set to be the TV chef star of the new five-part series which has just gone live thanks to South Denbighshire Community Partnership.

Former college lecturer Sarah has been videoed cooking recipes for SDCP’s Food and Fun series, supported by Comic Relief, and ten families have signed up to take part across the Edeyrnion and Dee Valley areas of South Denbighshire.

Each will receive a weekly delivery of the ingredients, a recipe and a link to Sarah’s latest video and the idea is for the whole family to join in the fun in a project supported by Comic Relief.

At the same time SDCP have also worked with Denbighshire Arts, part of Denbighshire Leisure Ltd, who have had funding from the Arts Council of Wales for videos to accompany art materials to get families drawing, painting and putting together their own collaborative art works.

Sarah, whose team cook for SDCP’s meals-on-wheels service, said: “It’s a brilliant idea for the families with lots of different activities that everyone can get involved in.

“I’ve been looking at putting together healthy, nutritious meals which are fun for everyone in the family to get involved in.

“The first one is a simple soup that makes sure they all get their five a day and gets everyone involved in the preparation and other recipes in the series will include pizza and fruit kebabs.

“It was something we were going to do at Canolfan Ni in Corwen but because of lockdown we had to re-think that and instead I’ve been making videos to show them how to cook the recipes.”

Sarah, her team and the volunteer drivers have been very busy over lockdown, cooking up almost 1200 meals in the Canolfan Ni kitchen since March for SDCP’s meals-on-wheels delivery service.

SDCP, who had to shut Canolfan Ni to the public in March, have also worked with Rowlands Chemists to deliver 272 prescriptions and recruited extra volunteers to help them take 362 shopping baskets to isolated and vulnerable people.

They also work with Citizens Advice Denbighshire who have helped local people claim almost half a million pounds in benefits in the last six months, £347,000 since lockdown started in March.

The grant-funded organisation also issued an appeal for more volunteers to help them provide services in the Edeyrnion area and was overwhelmed by the response.

SDCP Project Manager Margaret Sutherland said: “Over 20 people came forward in the first 24 hours and since then we’ve had a fantastic response from local people and every community council in the area has supported us.

“People have been so generous with their time and with donations to our food bank and we’ve even been able to add dairy and meat to the non-perishable goods we usually distribute.

“Because of lockdown we weren’t holding our regular events such as the Cawl A Can Lunch Club but many of our regulars signed up for our meals-on-wheels instead.”

SDCP receives funding from the Big Lottery Fund and from Cadwyn Clwyd and Lottery operators Camelot donated filming equipment while they also work closely with Denbighshire County Council’s Covid-19 Task Force, Corwen Medical Centre and environmentally friendly business service Litegreen Ltd.

The Partnership serve Corwen and the surrounding villages of Glyndyfrdwy, Carrog, Cynwyd, Llandrillo, Gwyddelwern, Betws Gwerful Goch, Melin Y Wig and Bryneglwys, an area covering 100 square miles.

Among their regular meals-on-wheels customers is 80-year-old widow Carole McClung, from Clawdd Poncen, who said: “The meals have been great, they just give you rather a lot. They phone every week and see what I want and Kieran brings my meals round.

“I used to go to the lunch club but South Denbighshire Community Partnership are very good for keeping in touch and ring regularly for a chat.”

Community Engagement Officer Sally Lloyd Davies said: “This is an area where there is a great deal of rural poverty with older people often living in isolated areas where it is difficult for them to access services and this has been a very frightening time for them.

“We sent out a flyer to every household in Edeyrnion, over 1800 homes, with a phone number for people to contact us and our volunteers have been brilliant whether it’s taking calls or making deliveries and we’ve also been making regular phone calls to vulnerable people to make sure they’re well and just to have a chat with them.

“Every Tuesday we’ve been phoning the people who registered for our shopping service to take their orders, we’ve done the shop on Wednesday and we deliver on Thursdays.

“There’s been a great response to our appeal for donations to the food bank as well and we’ve kept people up to date with posts on Facebook.”