Author: Ben Trowell

We are so pleased to be involved in a collaboration of local charities to form a new Support Hub to help older people and their families cope with the impact of the Coronavirus in Bristol.

The Support Hub will provide a range of different services for older people including practical, social and emotional support, such as shopping and weekly social phone calls, as well as virtual activities that older people can do from the safety of their own home.

Working with other Bristol charities is something our new CEO Isobel Jones is really passionate about.

It’s been brilliant to be part of a collaborative group of charities in Bristol all pulling together at a time when older people need us most; this will help us all to support the most vulnerable older people.

Isobel Jones CEO Alive

Due to social distancing measures, there is a risk that some older people will feel lonely and socially isolated during this period.  We feel it is important to think about social opportunities to keep older people connected while they are at home, as well as dealing with practical issues.  As a group of charities, we are offering virtual activities such as shared reading, reminiscence and Tai-Chi sessions – people can get involved either online or over the phone.”

The helpline for the Support Hub operates from 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday.  Sometimes the helpline will be busy so if messages are left on the phone or by email out of working hours, we will always respond as soon as possible.

You can find out more about the Support Hub on the Age UK Bristol website. To get in touch with the Support Hub please ring the helpline on 0117 929 7537 or email admin@ageukbristol.org.uk

The Support Hub is made up of:  Age UK Bristol, Active Ageing Bristol, Alive, Bristol Ageing Better, Bristol After Stroke, Bristol Older People’s Forum, Independent Age, LinkAge, Oasis-Talk, St Monica Trust, The Marmalade Trust and WE Care Home Improvements.

Free online activity sessions via zoom…

These strange times have bought many challenges to us as a charity. Financial, logistics of working from home, furlough to name but a few. But our main challenge has been the fact we can’t be with you in care homes and support you.

We are missing all the amazing older people we work with, and the carers we help and support and we want to be there with you.  Many of our staff are now furloughed, but one of our funders, the Rayne Foundation has provided us with funding to keep Nikki our Services Deliver Manager working. This means we can deliver training and activity sessions for free over the next few months via Zoom (all from Niki’s front room – so you may get to meet Berkeley the dog!).

We understand for many homes this is just not an option. We understand you are isolating residents, dealing with staff shortages and in some cases, dealing with the tragedy of the virus and are our hearts go out to you.

But for those who want to and can, we are here for you. Our Alive and Direct sessions will hope to bring a little bit of joy to your residents and support for your amazing staff. Through Zoom we can deliver a session to a group of residents, and we’ve found our guided reminiscence sessions work really well as it enables space for conversation and chat. We can also bring different homes together at the same time – or if residents are in isolation we can connect them up to the same session so they can join in?   We can help you set them up too, we can go through what you need, just a TV, a laptop/ipad and a connecting lead.

Our recent trial sessions in one home have been a great success. Irene, who doesn’t usually come out of her room and struggles with her vision and her hearing, said “it had made her day and that it was beautiful!” Jean has advanced Parkinson’s but was clapping and singing along – which she doesn’t normally do.

If you would like to trial one, we are offering them all for free thanks to the Rayne Foundation.  They are easy to set up, and we can help you through the process.  Please just email info@aliveactivities.org or call us on 0117 377 4756  and we can set up a link and see how it goes!