TOOTHILL Lunch Club has been revived after a month in the wilderness as a social enterprise has stepped in to rescue it.

In February the project, which had been serving elderly residents a weekly meal for more than a decade, dished up its last dinner when cash flow and staffing problems made it unsustainable.

But yesterday the club was restarted after the Pinetrees social enterprise stepped in, alongside volunteers from the Innerflame volunteer group to serve up a roast dinner to more than 40 Toothill residents,

One of the first to tuck in to their meal was 99-year-old Jean Carey, who launched the club from her own sitting room, 25 years ago.

“I lived in London and when I came down here there was nothing to do and nowhere to go,” she said. “We used to get about half a dozen people just round my house, but eventually we got too many of us and I couldn’t cram 30 people in my front room.

“They asked me to come in to the hall here and open the club, and it took off from there. It started off with the Monday Club, which was just us ladies. We used to do outings up and down the coast, and sometimes filled two coaches. It’s been my second home really.”

For the last two years the club has been run by Tina Mackie, who also ran the community cafe, but after the chef gave notice and her health deteriorated, she was forced to throw in the towel.

“We had money in the bank, but we did not realise that we had been paying the rent for the lunch club from the community cafe money, so that affected our funds,” she said.

“I ended up running it almost on my own with the chef, and we could not get any trustees, and my health was starting to deteriorate. I hope it does carry on and is successful, and I wish them all the luck in the world.”

Gail Light, the locality facilitator for West Swindon, said Pinetrees was the perfect fit to carry on the good work.

“It closed down because they were running at a loss, and the final straw was the lack of volunteers and the chef leaving, when it went downhill,” she said.

“Because Pinetrees were running a very successful lunch club we approached them and asked if they would be willing to take over in Toothill.

“Some of the funds that were left were transferred to get some new crockery, and it is going to be run slightly differently from now on. Before, if you did not turn up you would still have to pay, but from now on anyone who wants to come can just pay on the day.

“There will be a roast dinner every week, because it was identified that people are less likely to cook at home. Now it is going to be more nutritious and more of a treat for the community.”

The club is searching for eight new volunteers to devote time every Wednesday between 10am and 2pm. Anyone interested should contact Neil McNally at Pinetrees on 01793 292295.