ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Volunteer Tony O’Connor preparing for his Meals on Wheels run using the 'Social Spin' car made available by Faha Court Bar and Restaurant.

EXCLUSIVE

By Sean Moriarty

A volunteer-run meals on wheels service faced been taken off the road until members of the local community stepped in to save the service.

Listry Community Council has been running the service for the last 10 years and each Monday, Wednesday and Friday they deliver meals to around 20 vulnerable households in the area.

The majority of the volunteer group falls into an older age group category and when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced recently that everyone over 70 needs to cocoon to protect themselves from the virus, Listry Community Council found themselves facing a shortfall of drivers.

Council members put out a request in the local community and several people including members of the local GAA club and recently unemployed people volunteered their time and were able to keep the vital service going.

“The result is we now have a much younger driver group,” Listry Community Council Chairman Tony Darmody told the Killarney Advertiser.

“We now have 20 drivers on a three-week rota and because they come from a GAA coaching or other backgrounds like that, they were already Garda vetted.”

Meanwhile, the local Faha Court Hotel has donated its 'Social Spin' vehicle to the cause.

The bar was one of two Kerry pubs to offer the service where punters at the bar can be driven to and from the pub by a team of volunteer drivers on the rota.

With the bar currently closed as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, their Skoda Suberb was no longer in use so it was donated to Listry Community Council to use as a delivery vehicle for the duration of the crisis.