£1,000 donated to special Alton cause

New equipment is set to be bought by a special Alton lunch club after a donation of £1,000 from the town’s newest funeral home.

To celebrate its new place in Alton’s High Street, colleagues at The Co-operative Funeralcare held an open afternoon on Wednesday [10 July].

To mark the special occasion, the branch, which is part of Southern Co-op – the regional, independent co-operative, made a donation to The Vokes Lunch Club which has been running in Alton since the 1960s.

Funeral Co-ordinator Emma Dulieu said: “It was really heartening to hear about the lunch club and how much it means to local people who are going there nearly every day for a two-course lunch in a safe, friendly environment.

“So we are really pleased to be able to help them replace some of their slightly older equipment and help keep such a valuable community asset going.

“Since we opened, we’ve already helped a number of local families in their times of need and hope we are able to continue this support for the foreseeable future.

“Anyone with questions about funerals is welcome to pop in to see us as we are always happy to help dispel some of the myths around funeralcare.”

The Vokes Lunch Club is for people aged 60 and over and is held at the Vokes Centre, in Normandy Street, with around 15 to 20 people visiting every day for meals prepared on the premises.

Tony Midmore, Trustee, said: “We would like to share our grateful thanks for the generous donation which is brilliant. A lot of our equipment on the premises is getting a little bit long in the tooth so this is going towards upgrading the facilities.

“We offer a social environment, a social atmosphere and we make sure the food is substantial for the elderly who can’t manage to do it themselves all the time.

“It gets them outside of their own four walls. A lot of these people don’t have much mobility. It is something that we have been doing for an awfully long time.”

To find out more, visit www.vokeslunchclub.co.uk or call 01420 84235.

The donation from The Co-operative Funeralcare, in Alton, was made as part Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ scheme which addresses four key social themes – promoting ‘Greener’, ‘Healthier’, ‘Safer’, and ‘More Inclusive’ neighbourhoods.

For more information on the funeral home and the services available, visit the branch at 71 High Street or click here.