RCC 3 – Foresight Older People’s Services
Proposer: Lynne Smith
Funding allocated: £1,000
The Proposal:
Lynne Smith from Foresight attended the first Change Champions Programme. Lynne had secured funding from Lloyds Bank to set up a time banking programme for older people, and was keen to enlist support in how to develop this approach. While the RCC Programme shared a range of time banking materials and approaches, the Programme led to Lynne developing a very broad and highly successful approach. It also led to new partnerships and sharing between the Older People’s Collaborative and Foresight.
The Foresight Older People’s service now works with 500 people each week, and does regular sessions at Scartho Library, St Giles, St Michaels (Little Coates), St Andrew’s Immingham, The Warehouse (Freeman St), Jubilee Pub, Sydney Sussex Rec, and occasionally at Grimsby Minster. It does guided walks and work with schools from Scartho Library; and is active in the development of Good Neighbours, in Humberston, Immingham and Cleethorpes.
Scartho Library is another success whether the initial thinking and later issues were tested through RCC. Now a highly successful community hub, with 600 members the Library is run by volunteers: volunteers cut grass, bring food in to sell, organise trips to a local garden centre and are developing activities in the People’s Park. A range of clubs, activities, therapies and crafts are run from the Library.
Other projects, including another lunch club are being planned, and recently a dementia theatre/ drama project was successfully funded for the next 3 years, with this latter again receiving input from RCC.
Foresight was also allocated £1,000, to record some stories for isolated people to listen to in their own homes. The initial plan was to engage an isolated lady who had experience in this sort of recording as a way of providing a therapeutic way for her to help others. Unfortunately this plan had to be changed as the lady backed out mid – way. The funding was switched to develop a social group for people in the area. The group has been established and is continuing to gain confidence in expressing views and opinions and listening to their own voices. The host has been motivated to visit a local sheltered housing scheme (one that has lost its warden service) and encourages the residents to meet in their shared space and stimulates conversation. The group have now bought a mobile phone and tablet and are learning how to use them. 8 people in the group have benefitted from sharing time and skills and learning new skills especially IT skills. The residents of the sheltered housing scheme are also beneficiaries due to the increased confidence and drive of the woman who visits them.
Similarly, faced with some practical issues threatening one new lunch club, RCC provided hot containers to enable the club to continue while more permanent solutions were put in place.
Foresight has also successfully secured a range of funding – the PSMDB funded a second member of staff 22 hours to support the new projects established through RCC; while Foresight recently secured 4 years Lottery funding following the end of Lloyds funding and a further £55,000 in other grants to support the range of new projects reported here.
“The RCC Programme was the catalyst for everything. I learned about things like network mapping and project planning that I did not know about before. It has worked well; we are putting on what people ask for rather than what we think we should put on. The ongoing support has been the best thing.” The challenges ahead are to keep developing networks, and to overcome the territorial attitudes that I encounter sometimes”
“The impact of the RCC Programme is through the people who volunteer and keep the groups going; they have brought people together, are inspired, learn new skills and spread joy. Most of the groups would now survive and are independent of us; but they need someone they can come back to if in difficulties”
“Now we need to get recognition that some posts must be paid for, and that not everything can be voluntary.”
Carl’s story
Carl is 86. He has been widowed for the last 6 years and misses his wife very much. His family live away and at the time we met he was floundering.
Carl is a very practical man and enjoys helping people. He wanted to do something that would make him feel useful, boost his confidence and give some structure to his day.
Carl has very strong opinions about what he thinks is wrong and what he thinks is right. His convictions can antagonise people and it was important to find something that everyone involved felt comfortable with as Carl would have struggled to regain ground from something that did not work well.
During his wife’s long illness Carl taught himself to cook and learnt how to prepare healthy nutritious meals. He was finding it difficult to eat on his own and we talked about the possibility of setting up a lunch club. Carl jumped at the chance and every week he prepares vegetables, suggests recipes and serves food for up to 60 people . Working within boundaries and to strict guidelines allowed him to share his knowledge in ways that drew people to him rather than alienate them and this boosted his confidence and gave him a real purpose.
After some time Carl felt able to share his car with people and organised lifts and scheduled pick- ups for other people.
Carl then felt able to share his passion for Mah Jong ( a game he had played with his wife over many years) and now runs a weekly class for 16 people.
Carl will never recover from the loss of his wife buts his days now have a purpose and he is enjoying activities and making new friends. There have been the occasional blips when Carl’s enthusiasm for pursuing the ‘right thing’ has caused ructions but he is in a better place to retrieve the situation and is less inclined to walk away.