Fuel costs putting off meal delivery driver applicants in Jersey

A delivery service offering meals to people in need has spoken about the challenges of recruiting new volunteers due to rising fuel costs.

Maureen Bougeard said Meals on Wheels Jersey had received £38,000 from the Jersey Community Foundation to fund work supplying hot meals to islanders who are unable to prepare meals themselves.

She said the service packed and delivered meals to about 100 people, four days a week – but added fuel costs were having an impact.

“Very often volunteers say, you know, ‘the petrol’s getting expensive’,” she said. “We’re looking for new volunteers and I send the information out which says ‘you drive your car at your own expense’ and I don’t hear from them again.”

The secretary said the organisation had more than 200 volunteers.

“Our complete organisation is run by volunteers,” Bougeard said. “We don’t have any paid staff at all.”

Bougeard said some of the voluntary meal delivery drivers drove the length of the island twice in a day, adding most volunteers were retired people.

“I’m not saying everyone has a poor pension, not everyone is on the basic pension, but some are and they still manage to come and volunteer, which is absolutely fabulous,” she said.