V for Life Post-Pandemic V For Life is a UK charity that helps take care of vegans in care homes. Amanda Woodvine brings us a post pandemic update as V for Life open up again and resume many of their previous roles in providing for elderly vegans in care.
V for Life I lead a small and talented team supporting older veg*ns – and those who care for them. The charity has certainly grown over recent years – from just a couple of home-workers in 2014 through to around 20 people on the payroll, with a Manchester office base. Demand in Lockdown One small positive of lockdown was a rise in local community support groups, such as COVID-19 Mutual Aid – offering shopping and more to vulnerable self-isolating people. And more services moved towards home delivery – prioritising people in vulnerable groups. Agerelated networks have been working to get more older people online. So in one sense, lockdown led to more support. Lockdown also made many of us aware of the challenges that frailty might bring. Restrictions in how far you can travel 138 I Plant Powered Planet
is a sad reality for many, all year-round. Up to 3.5% of the UK population may be housebound. For over 85s, this figure may be as high as 1 person in every 5. Supporting vulnerable older veg*ns has been at the heart of V for Life’s work since its formation. The pandemic has been challenging for some older veg*ns, including those living in care homes who haven’t been able to receive visitors. Even before the pandemic, many residents had no visitors at all. So we launched ‘A Write to Smile’, a card-writing campaign to raise a smile among isolated older veg*ns. We developed a ‘Good grocery shopping guide’ to support people shopping for those with special dietary requirements, perhaps for the first time. And we produced a ‘Selfisolation survival guide’, outlining the support available from the charity during this challenging period. Our chefs in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London switched to
online delivery of cookery demonstrations – taking a break from ‘roving’! They were joined virtually by almost 3,000 attendees across 45 organisations, including lunch clubs, care home caterers, carers groups, and older people’s groups and networks. Our annual Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian and Vegan Care Catering moved from Parliament to online. And we launched a virtual vegan lunch club; continued our veg*n penand phone-pal scheme; and facilitated the Mature Vegans and Veggies UK Facebook Group, which almost doubled in members. Post-Lockdown Slowly but surely we’re resuming in-person cookery demos – it’s been a pleasure for our chefs to be with people and cook for people again. Recently Chef Alex delivered a cookery demonstration and lunch club for a group from Age UK Wigan. The return of sharing the cooking
