Kind-hearted Sunderland cafe owner delivers hundreds of meals to elderly residents after customers dig deep

Michelle Imeson, who runs Goodfillas cafe on Hylton Road, has delivered hundreds of hot meals to vulnerable and elderly residents since the lockdown measures were introduced last month.

When an elderly gentleman came into the cafe asking for a hot meal a number of weeks ago, Michelle realised there would be many more like him who were isolated and struggling to put food on the table due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“It was him who started it all really,” said the 52-year-old.

“He was in his 90s and had lost his wife. I felt so sorry for him so we gave him a hot meal.”

After they shared the story on social media, customers and members of the public began donating to help feed other vulnerable and elderly people who were stranded in their homes.

More than £700 has now been raised, with Michelle and volunteers delivering the free meals across Sunderland every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

People can nominate a relative or friend who they know might benefit from a hot meal and some human interaction and volunteers will bring it to the doorstep,

“There are elderly and disabled people who we delivering to who would never see anybody, they haven’t got any family,” said Michelle, who keeps the initiative going as well as running her own business.

“We’ve had so many messages from people saying thank you and ringing us up telling us what a marvellous job we’re doing.”

Grangetown resident, Anthony Bramley has donated a total of £400 to make sure his grandmother and her friends have access to a hot meal.

“I set up a PayPal page just to help me cover the costs a little bit and I couldn’t believe the amount of donations we had,” Michelle added.

“I want to thank everyone because I wouldn’t be able to do it without them, that amount of money gets you a lot of meals.

“I’ll carry on delivering them for as long as I can.”

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