GLUSBURN Luncheon Club has been saved from closure following an appeal in the Craven Herald.

Reporter Daryl Ames visited the luncheon club for its "final" Christmas meal in early December and heard how members were sad to be losing a service that had been providing hot meals to elderly people for 35 years.

Financial constraints and loss of volunteer cooks and helpers meant 25 regular members would have had to look elsewhere for their weekly Wednesday lunchtime meal, had a donor not come forward.

But thanks to a local bus firm and an anonymous donor, the luncheon club has now been saved and will start meeting at noon every Wednesday from January 28.

Gill Birks, chairman of Glusburn Community and Arts Centre Trustees, said: "We have been able to appoint a cook, who will be sponsored for the foreseeable future by the Red Bus Days company, and in addition they are going to provide free transport for anyone who needs this to come to the lunch."

Chris Matthews, proprietor of the Keighley-based Red Bus Days, said: "I know how much these members would have missed out. It's not just the meal, but it's the social aspect for many of the members."

Mr Matthews, whose company donated £2,000, said the sponsorship would complement the services offered by Red Bus Days, which runs day trips out in the local area that are used by families, retired people, people with no transport and those who want to relax and leave the car at home for a change.

In addition to the new cook, some new and former volunteers have come forward to help keep the club running, and an anonymous donation of £2,000 will help pay for a new industrial dishwasher and a new floor covering in the kitchen.

"It's marvellous support that we've received and we can now move forward as successfully as we have done in the past," said Mrs Birks. "This is proving to be a great example of groups and individuals coming together to support the community."

She also praised the Craven Herald for its coverage of the luncheon club.

In a letter to the Craven Herald, Mrs Birks wrote: "The trustees of Glusburn Community and Arts Centre would like to thank you and your staff for the excellent coverage you gave to the Glusburn Luncheon Club in two of your December issues. As a result of this publicity, we have indeed received what we needed to keep the luncheon club from folding."