A lunch delivery service run by a Sudbury charity has proved a valuable lifeline for one of its elderly customers.

The Bridge Project provides hot lunches to older or vulnerable people in the local community, delivered by a team of volunteers.

When two of them, Kingsley Everett and Karl Ellis, arrived at Croft Court to bring a meal to customer June Ellis, they were unable to get a reply when they rang the doorbell. Thankfully they were able to open the door and call out for Mrs Ellis, who had fallen over in the early hours of the morning and was unable to move. Her emergency alarm had also failed to work.

The Bridge Project volunteers called for an ambulance and comforted Mrs Ellis until it arrived.

Mr Everett said: “We are just happy we were able to help. We also were able to contact her family to let them know what had happened and ensure they could get to Mrs Ellis as soon as they could.”

Anesta Newson, founder of The Bridge Project, also contacted Mrs Ellis’s family following the accident. She said: “Our lunch delivery service is so much more than getting hot food to elderly customers in the community – it’s about social care.

“In some cases, the members of our charity who deliver meals are the only people the customers see all day, or even all week. The Bridge Project has the family contact details of every lunch delivery customer in case of an emergency such as this.”

Mrs Ellis, who is now on the mend, referred to the two volunteers who rescued her as ‘heroes’ and presented them with chocolates as a thank you.