The village of Sellack is proud to announce that it now has a Good Neighbour Scheme. Carole Ajinkya, the village secretary, set up the scheme earlier this year to provide support to local people.

Carole told the Ross Gazette: “We live in a friendly, scattered Parish but people can’t always rely on friends or family when they need help. The Scheme has a lovely bunch of volunteers who are all DBS checked, who can offer help with shopping, transport, pets, befriending and small household tasks.

“Some of our clients are housebound and we recognise that loneliness affects physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

“They may be elderly, disabled, young mums, single parents or people who just need some short term help.

“The volunteers also benefit from a sense of satisfaction because they know they are ‘making a difference’ to someone’s quality of life.”

There are a lot of family members who live quite a distance away from their vulnerable relatives, so it also helps that there is someone trusted living nearby who they can contact if they need to.

They have had support from Sellack Parish Council, Village Hall Committee, St. Tysilio’s Church, Police Mutual Insurance, Hereford Round Table and Pastorprint to set up the scheme.

The scheme has been running a ‘Lunch Bunch Club’ for several months. They are held at Sellack Village Hall on the first Thursday of every month from 12.00pm. For £6, visitors are able to have two courses with a choice of puddings. Booking is essential so that the team know how many to cater for.

For more information, visit www.sell ackvillagehall.co.uk or call Carole on 07471 073596.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.