A COMMUNITY cafe has teamed up with Wrexham Rotary Club and local supermarkets to deliver meals and food parcels during the coronavirus outbreak.

Founder Grace Lockhart and volunteers are distributing hot meals and food parcels from The Community Café six days a week to the elderly and low income families that are self-isolating in the Rhos area

Under normal circumstances, the non-profit organisation based in Rhos provides training opportunities in all kinds of cafe work, providing a safe space for those with learning difficulties and helping people get back into work.

The Leader:

Grace Lockhart, founder of The Community Cafe

Grace said: "During this Covid-19 pandemic we are collaborating with organisations to be able to offer more food parcels to those struggling in the area who are elderly, self-isolating or in need of support due to changes in their circumstances because of the pandemic. We are also offering home cooked meals which we can deliver to the elderly in their own homes.

"Some of our volunteers during this pandemic include Stacey Murphy, Sharon Parry, Lorraine Shaw and many more."

"We are extremely grateful for funding from Steve Morgan fund to help the café survive as a café through this crisis, The Big Lottery Community Fund for project funding and our thanks to the Cohesion Department of the Council.

"We are delighted with the support we are receiving form the local council, Wrexham Rotary Club to be able to deliver more food parcels, along with the businesses who provide food such as Tesco, Asda, Bookers and Rhos Co op."

Jane Wedley, Wrexham Rotary Club community officer, has been sourcing food to be distributed or used to make meals by the cafe's volunteers.

Food that would normally go to community projects currently suspended due to coronavirus is now being used to help people in need.

Donations have included chicken from Nandos when they closed their restaurants, cheese from a local food factory, and food donations from the Tesco stores in Wrexham and Chirk several times a week.

Jane said: "This is a joining together of clubs and business to help people in our community during these unprecedented times."

Another branch of The Community Café's work has also been adapted during the current challenging times.

Grace said: "We are also offering meditation and mindfulness sessions on Zoom to help combat isolation and offer techniques to help manage stress and anxiety during these unprecedented days.

Find Rhos Community Café on Facebook or contact Grace on 07931 791892 for more information or to volunteer.