A CHARITY set up to provide meals on wheels for elderly Wirral residents marked a major milestone by taking to the streets of Bromborough with a collection of vintage prams.

Wirral Community Meals founder Val Hamlet is celebrating after finally opening a charity shop following an 18 month search for suitable premises.

The shop, in Allport Lane, Bromborough, will sell pre-loved clothing, household goods and bric-a-brac to raise funds which will then be used to provide meals on wheels for around 25 local elderly people.

Val said: “For me, it’s all about recreating a bit of that war-time spirit where the community looked after each other so we had the idea of using vintage prams to promote the shop with a pram push.

“It’s taken 18 months to get to this point but we’ve made it and can now actually start making money to get the meals on wheels service going.”

Val, who collects vintage prams as a hobby, was funded by last year’s Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Community Fund and will use her grant to pay the first three months’ rent on the new shop.

She said: “The grant helped enormously. Not having to worry about rent for the first few months has made a real difference to things.”

MRWA Chairperson, Cllr Graham Morgan said: “It’s great that we’ve been able to play a very small part in supporting Val. The shop isn’t simply about encouraging recycling, it’s about providing a very real service to local elderly people and that’s what makes it such a worthwhile project.”