Friendly fish and chips with Heacham care company

You can’t beat fish and chips in the summer in a West Norfolk coastal village with tea and great company - unless they’re provided free of charge.

Care company Extra Hands provided a free meal for a group of over-65s on Friday at a social event organised in Heacham, where the company is based.

Around 30 guests were welcomed to the village’s church hall at lunchtime when the group was provided with the traditional sea-side fare to enjoy while having a chat and making new friends.

“We work a lot with older people in our community and they can easily feel isolated or unable to take part in social events for a variety of reasons, so we thought a community lunch would bring people together,” said Lynda Hilliard, manager at Heacham.

“Something as simple as a fish and chip lunch can mean that someone gets out of their home and chats with others for a couple of hours. It can make a lot of difference and we hope to hold similar events in the future,” added Lynda.

Mrs Joan Laws, 95, said she had thoroughly enjoyed the event and said it gave her the chance to catch-up with people.

“I don’t get out much and my husband is nearly 100 and in a home in Hunstanton now. The Extra Hands people are lovely and they collected me for the fish and chips and took me home afterwards. I also went to the cupcake day they held recently which was lovely,” she said.

“They come and prepare lunch for me and are always cheerful and lovely - it really breaks my day and I so look forward to seeing them,” she added.

Extra Hands Heacham office was awarded Outstanding status by the Care Quality Commission earlier this year and it also has an office in Horsham St Faith, near Norwich.

The award-winning family-run company employs around 150 staff and offers bespoke care packages ranging from its regular wellbeing checks to daily, multi-call support.