Meals on wheels dynamic duo step down after 30 years service

The Association of Jewish Refugees has bid a fond farewell to two dedicated staff workers who ran its community meals on wheels service for members, many of whom fled Nazi Europe as child refugees.

After nearly three decades of combined service, delivering fresh meals and a friendly face on a weekly basis, Annie Hurley and Sid Grant have stepped down because there isn’t enough demand to continue.

AJR’s outreach meals on wheels supported 85 people in 2000; by 2023 that number had fallen to between 10 and 14.

The service launched in 1998, serving up 80,000 meals during its lifetime. It was often a lifeline for the organisation’s members, especially during the Covid-19 lockdown,

With 28th December 2022 having marked its last delivery, Annie Hurley tells Jewish News: “It could be because of Covid, because a few people went into homes, but quite a few others passed away.”

Annie spent nearly 23 years in the role. She told Jewish News she began at the AJR day centre in Cleve Road, NW6, just off West End Lane, volunteering three times a week as a carer before being promoted to a paid role.

“I delivered twice a week, Tuesday and Friday. Literally all over the place. The furthest was out in Watford. Our nearest was round the corner from Cleve. They were all lovely. Some of them got free meals because of their situation and some of them could afford the meals on wheels. It was so diverse. I’ve got to say that all of them, they all became part of my family. I miss them.”

Hurley and Grant criss-crossed from Watford, Edgware, Maida Vale – and then to Paddington, until “we had to stop delivering (there) because of the congestion charge. The people receiving the meals didn’t want AJR to have the expense of paying the congestion.”

Hurley would pack meals on a Tuesday and deliver them a Wednesday, when the duo would drive for nearly seven hours.

A typical three course meal included a soup starter (chicken, mushroom, pea or vegetable), main meals varying between roast chicken, schnitzel, casserole, beef meatballs, salmon and a vegetarian option, and five dessert options including apple sponge. “Apple strudel and fruit crumble,” says Hurley, “went down well.”

So good was the strudel, she continues, that even after the AJR centre closed, CEO Michael Newman continued to order it from chef Cassie Paris.

Annie and Sid, who worked with AJR for five years, remain good friends, texting every day. Indeed, Hurley describes the AJR members she delivered to for over two decades as “my extended family.”

With the youngest member she met weekly being 50, the oldest was 106 and lived in Little Venice. “The stories that they used to tell me,” Hurley says. “One who lived in Golders Green, had left Germany, was on a train and the Germans boarded. The nuns on the train told her not to speak. They said to the Germans that they were transporting this young girl. They saved her.”

She tells of another who lived in Maida Vale, recalling being pushed off a moving train by the Germans.

“What lovely people they were. And they have got the will to survive. It’s amazing. They don’t harbour any ill will. They just want to live. I felt privileged when they sat down and told me what they’d been through. There was never anything bitter about it. It was something they’d been through, but they were here now. And I do miss working with them. I’m not sure what I will do now.”

Michael Newman, AJR CEO said: “Here at the AJR we proud of our long history supporting our members with social and welfare assistance. Annie and Sid are fantastic examples of this dedication and on behalf of The AJR and our wider community, I would like to thank them for their invaluable contribution.”

The organisation has since found an alternative meals service for its remaining members through local suppliers.