A VITAL food service for older people will make its last deliveries this week after its funding was slashed.

Food Train North Ayrshire, which delivered meals to elderly residents, will wind down this week, after it received the devastating news that its funding was removed by the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership in January.

Irvine’s MSP Ruth Maguire has since written to the director of the Partnership to ask what alternatives will be put in place for pensioners who used the service.

A petition was launched to safe the service – which had reached more than 4,500 signatures.

A spokesperson from Food Train said: “It is with great sadness that the Food Train North Ayrshire branch will close at the end of the month, with final deliveries taking place next week.

“Closing the branch was the last thing we ever wanted to do but without financial resource in place for the new financial year we sadly had no choice but to take this difficult decision.

“We would like to thank everyone who supported the campaign to #SaveOurService. The campaign gained remarkable traction, and we are deeply disappointed this was not enough to secure another year of funding for the project.

“We will leave North Ayrshire proud of having built a branch that was highly regarded by members, public, volunteers and elected representatives.”

Cunninghame MSP Ruth Maguire “Like many others, who had seen first-hand the great work of Food Train, I was dismayed to learn of the closure of the North Ayrshire branch due to the removal of funding – despite great efforts to have this decision reversed.

“It is now crucial to ensure that the needs of the vulnerable older people who relied on Food Train continue to be met.

“I have written to the Director of North Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership, Stephen Brown, to seek detailed information on what alternative services have been put in place and will be monitoring this situation closely.”

A spokesperson from the Health and Social Care Partnership said: “Due to the severe financial constraints within health and social, the Integrated Care Fund Review Group – made up of senior representatives from North Ayrshire Council, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Third Sector and Independent Sectors – agreed that only projects which were considered financially sustainable should receive support going forward.

“Their funding recommendations were unanimously approved by the Integrated Joint Board.

“Service users should be reassured that safe, high quality care and support is our first and highest priority.

“Discussions are ongoing with Food Train personnel to ensure that people who use our services are safe and receive the support appropriate for their needs.”