A postman who brings the mail is a habit. Did you know that it can also carry meals at home? This is a service that is offered to elderly people, particularly in Saugues, in Haute-Loire. We followed a postman on this somewhat special tour.
It is a service which was close to disappearing, in Saugues (Haute-Loire), and in twelve municipalities in the canton. Home delivery of meals for isolated, single, elderly or disabled people continues, with the Post Office.
Clearly, postmen are gradually integrating refrigerated food packages into their rounds. The service is currently being run-in. It also serves to maintain ties with people who have chosen to age in place.
Marie-Thérèse, alone with her son, relies on this valuable home meal delivery service.
•
© Maxime Pitavy / France Télévisions
Among the postmen who participate in these tours, Alexis. It does not count the kilometers traveled for these deliveries. What matters to him is rather the number of people helped in their daily lives.
On these vast expanses of the Margeride that Alexis and his van travel, there is Marie-Thérèse. She lives alone with her farmer son, and this service provides her with great help. “For me, it’s important, that’s for sure. If necessary, we can call on him. I hurt my wrist, which remained swollen for three days, I can no longer peel potatoes. I then said to myself that for the moment, we’ll leave it there. I make meals two days a week, and the other days I have them delivered to me.“, she rejoices.
Alexis is a temporary worker for the Post Office and travels the small roads three times a week. He maintains links with elderly or disabled people for whom these sachets represent a morale boost. “The advantage is that the postman knows the population and the territories. He is a close and trustworthy person who is fully capable of providing this type of service.“, argues Teddy Hosik.
Alexis notably makes his meal delivery tour, in Saugues, in Haute-Loire
•
© Maxime Pitavy / France Télévisions
For the director of the mail and parcel service of La Poste Haute-Loire, “The idea is actually to work with postmen, with other systems and ways of distributing, such as insulated boxes directly in their rounds, as we already do in Allier or in other territories.“
It is in the center of Saugues that meals are prepared and packaged. For the moment, around twenty people are delivered for 11 euros per meal. “We would always have the idea of having support from communities to be able to lower the cost price of the meal a little, so that users can benefit from an attractive price and so that there are as many of them as possible.“, concludes Cyril Mouchet, director of the Margeride accommodation and activities center.
Home delivery of meals is in any case essential in this sparsely populated area. A welcome support, which Alexis intends to continue as is the case by greeting a beneficiary. Good news, he’s doing pretty well: “It’s going slowly!“
READ ALSO ► For veterans of the island of Arz, the postwoman delivers meals to their homes by boat
This proposed service makes it possible to maintain contact with single people, to monitor their health and to live better at home.
