A NEW service providing freshly-cooked meals to vulnerable and elderly people across Ryedale has been launched following its success during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Ryedale Community Kitchen has been launched by Community Smart CIC, a community interest company formed to coordinate and manage community projects in Ryedale.

The aim is to offer reasonably priced meals to people who find it difficult to get to the shops, or simply want the convenience of a cooked meal without the need to turn the cooker on.

Di Keal, director of Community Smart and one of the kitchen organisers, said: “Having provided literally hundreds of meals over the last few months to people who were shielding during pandemic, we have now found that as the district has been starting to come out of lockdown, there are still lots of people in Ryedale who want to continue to receive our meals for a variety of reasons, including ongoing concern about Covid-19.

“We were very lucky to receive some funding during the pandemic to provide our meals free to individuals, couples and families. We have now moved to a paid for service, but as a CIC we are still providing 20 per cent of our meals free to people in need of our support.”

Based at the Ryedale Community and Leisure Centre in Norton, local chef Andy Lodge produces meals three days a week that are delivered by volunteers to Malton, Norton, Pickering and villages in the area.

During the lockdown about 400 meals were cooked and delivered to people who needed them by Ryedale Volunteer Network volunteers

Community Smart director, Jack Ashton, who also works on the kitchen project, said: “We have been delighted by the response we have had from people who are receiving our meals and we hope to expand the service to more customers across the district in the coming weeks and months. We aim to use fresh, local ingredients to create ‘home-made’ style dishes that everyone can enjoy.”

Jack added: “In these still very uncertain times, we believe we are providing a service that local people really value, and it is important to us to still be able to give back to the community via the 20 per cent of our meals that are given away free.”

To order meals, phone Jack on 07988 245859 or Di on 01653 694546 or email kitchens@communitysmart.org.uk