A local organisation that provides the elderly with a day of activities and a cooked lunch has been rewarded for its efforts.

Volunteers at Age Concern, St Albans, have received June’s Maltings Community Heroes Award for giving older people the chance to leave the house and interact with others at a weekly lunch club that they run.

The award was primarily for the Friends Friday Club, which takes place every week and offers elderly people a range of entertainment and a hot meal, freshly cooked by the volunteers.

Age Concern also runs two lunch clubs for the elderly on Monday and Wednesday, both offering a similar service.

Vicky Thomas, 48, who lives in St Albans, runs the Friends Friday Club which is held in a single storey hall opposite St Peter’s Church in St Albans.

She said: “We try to do an activity in the morning and then we will have lunch; after we have musical bingo or a quiz.

“It’s just so they can get out and communicate with others; the second they all come together it’s just chat, chat, chat.”

All three clubs run between 10am and 2pm with the volunteers also providing transport for those who attend - but Age Concern is looking for more volunteers to help with travel.

Christine Law, who runs the Wednesday lunch club, said: “We do rely completely on our volunteers and we need more volunteer drivers because we have a list of people that want to come but they can’t because our bus only takes 10 people.”

Lesley Apollonio, who volunteers at Age Concern St Albans, added: “It’s just to give back to the community; I’ve got no older generation now so it’s just nice to mix with the older generation and they’re so interesting to talk to and that’s the main reason I do it.”

The Maltings has been running the community awards scheme in conjunction with the Herts Advertiser and each month the winner is presented with a cheque.