Christmas and New Year Opening
Tag: walt
The Net and WALT Christmas Openings
We have a slightly different programme over the next two weeks and we are limiting numbers at this moment in time, so please call to book.
Our contingency plan for COVID19
As you are aware, we are a lifeline for the elderly and isolated residents in Walderslade.
During the current situation, we have to find a balanced way forward, whereby we try and protect our members and volunteers from the virus yet also ensure they’re not abandoned into isolation.
Regretfully, this means that our usual activity sessions will all be suspended as of now. However, we will be opening the hub for a drop in session on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 11am-1pm for those who need us. We have hygiene measures in place, with hand wipes available and surfaces cleaned before and after each session, in addition to our normal cleaning routine.
We respectfully ask that anyone who thinks they may have been exposed to the virus NOT to come to the hub but to follow the public health advice of self-isolating at home.
WALT will ensure that the members they are physically unable to bring to the hub as usual are telephoned at least once a week. They are also in the process of setting up online communications between those members, in order for them to still talk to their friends.
Also, due to the idiotic panic buying, we have vulnerable people concerned about grocery supplies. People with physical issues who can’t cook fresh food. People who can’t get out to the shops. So any donations of ready meals that we can distribute would be most welcome – thank you.
We will continue to update here and on social media with regard to our own sessions and those by partners such as Pip’n’Jim’s and Medway Youth Service.
Thank you for your support.
Jaye Nolan, Manager.
An eventful year comes to a close
What a year it’s been for us, here at the Net!
With fundraising events, successful bids and an ever-strengthening partnership with Walderslade Together, we’re looking forward to consolidating our offer to the residents of Walderslade and Lords Wood as we enter 2020.
A huge part of our success is down to our fantastic Walties – the volunteers engaged by Walderslade Together who support so many local people. Whether it’s shopping, taking to hospital appointments or just chatting to them, our volunteers tirelessly give their time and energy to making peoples’ lives better.
To say thank you, we held a special Christmas dinner for them last week.
Our Arts & Crafts Club has been given a boost by volunteer Cat, and the new Brainstormz! support group is run by Sue, a dream to make happen she’s had for a long time.
If you would like to become a volunteer at the hub, and start an activity group or support session for something you’re passionate about, drop into any of our sessions, email Jaye via community@waldersladehub.org, or call us on 01634 319633.
To find out more about the volunteering opportunities with WALT, contact Sharon via volunteer@waltcic.org.uk.
A huge thank you to the Coop, with their community fund netting us the awesome amount of £6,378.94, and to the KM Group for their support as Charity of the Year, for the Medway Messenger this year. And, of course, to the Kent Community Foundation for their ongoing support, which culminated in them awarding us core funding for the next three years.
We’re also indebted to The National Lottery and Magic Little Grants, whose support enables us to do so much more.
Here’s to 2020!
*New Activity* BRAINSTORMZ!
Starting Saturday 7th December (1pm – 4pm) 2019; a new support group Brainstormz! is opening in The Net for persons just like you. There will be:
- Refreshments
- Crafting
- Facilities for younger persons
- Occasional Guest Speakers
- Arranged trips to seminars where relevant
BRAINSTORMZ! is led by WALT volunteer, Sue Bulpin, and welcomes people with all neurological conditions from Functional Neurological Disorder to Fibromyalgia and more.
We aim to provide an empathetic forum for the exchange of good practice ideas, details of access to facilities both locally and further afield. A general information exchange provision will be available, where attendees can receive and provide information as they find the information useful.
Each session will cost £2 per person {£1 for under 16s}. This is to cover the session fees, tea or coffee and biscuits. Those who bake are always welcome, especially if they bring cakes!
For information, contact Sue on 01634 319633 at the Net or via email volunteer@waltcic.org.uk
SUPPORTED BY FND ACTION UK
Raising awareness for Functional Neurological Disorder {FND} & Non Epileptic Attack Disorder {NEAD}
*New Activity* Reminiscence Cafe
We’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and thanks to the recent National Lottery Funding award, WALT is running this for us on the second Thursday in the month, beginning October 10th (1.30-3.30pm).
Bring along a family heirloom or some photos to talk about and we’ll record your stories. We’d particularly like to hear from anyone who has always lived in the Walderslade area and can tell us more about the changes over the years.
New keepsakes can be made from memories and kept in a Memory Box (supplied), which you can decorate using our craft supplies here. There is a small fee of £2 but this does include refreshments.
We look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks!
We did it! The KM Colour Run
With manager, Jaye, and WALT volunteers Donal and Liam, doing the hard work, a fun day was nevertheless had by all – particularly resident doggy, Sam!
We’ve no idea what the times were, because, let’s face it, no-one was timing. The priority was to become as multicoloured as possible. The powder – distributed by hand or fire extinguisher – is organic and washes out easily enough, and tastes like sherbet, so it’s all good!
The total raised hasn’t been properly calculated but we reckon it’s around the £300 mark. Here’s a snapshot of Sam basking in the glory 🙂
Brunch and a bit more …
The Net and WALT are delighted to brighten up our Wednesday daytimes, introducing ‘Brunch and a bit more’!
As stated, there’ll be nibbles by way of a bacon roll, or perhaps waffles – something tasty each week, washed down with a cuppa. And all for a paltry £2!
That’s the brunch part anyway. The bit more will include a singalong (like today’s inaugural brunch), arts & crafts, special visitors – it’s very much lead by the attendees, who’ve already begun making a list of what they’d enjoy.
So why not head down our way on Wednesdays between 10am-2pm? We look forward to seeing you.
The Net and WALT volunteer Jean Judge nominated for a Pride in Medway Award
It’s that time of the year again, when the people who make Medway better are recognised with nominations in the Pride in Medway awards.
We’re delighted that one of The Net and WALT’s joint volunteers, Jean Judge, has been recognised in the Volunteer of the Year category following her nomination by WALT.
An invaluable resource, Jean – seen above with many of the members – helps with shopping, home visits, taking people to medical appointments and social events, as well as bringing them to the hub to meet friends for a natter over a cuppa.
Jean says: “I feel extremely proud to get this recognition and I thoroughly enjoy doing what I do – it keeps me out of mischeif! I’m happy I can make a contribution to helping people stay socially active and not be left sitting indoors alone”.
WALT’s volunteer co-ordinator, Sharon O’Flynn, says: “Jean was our second ever volunteer and has been with us for two and a half years – now our longest serving. We love her to bits. She’s reliable and friendly and nothing is ever too much trouble. Nominating her for an award was a no-brainer, she absolutely deserves it.”
The awards are now in their 17th year and is made up of eight categories: Charity Fundraiser; Community Service; Good Carer; Green Champion; Health and Hospital; Young Heroes, Sports Coach of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Judges including Medway Council, Medway Messenger, Uniper, mhs Homes and Mid Kent College will meet to decide the winners, with the results due in the next couple of months.
All I Want For Christmas Is Company
Volunteer Christina Lee takes a look at the facts and figures behind Age UK’s recent advert and pinpoints why resources such as ourselves and Walderslade Together are so vital for our local community.
In Age UK‘s recent film ‘Just Another Day’, we see a pensioner living on his own and repeating the same routine throughout the year – get up, walk to the store, buy food, watch TV – until Christmas day, which he had forgotten about until he reached the store and saw that it was closed, covered in snow. This heart-breaking film made me think of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s Christmas classic ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas? ’, written for the victims of the Ethiopian famine in 1984, and I wonder how many older people in the UK today don’t know it’s Christmas until the shops close. Even if they do know it’s Christmas, so what? Christmas just passes them by.
Both my surviving grandmothers live overseas, and I feel incredible guilt every year that I can’t spend the occasion with them. I find consolation in knowing that they have great friends and other family members to look after them and that thanks to social media, I can video-chat them provided I work out the time differences correctly. But unfortunately for millions of older people in the UK and around the world, who have lost their spouse, can’t contact their family or have no children, things are a lot grimmer.
A Harsh Reality
In an article from The Independent published three months ago, older people report that they are forced to choose between either food or warmth, with many choosing to cut back on food or ‘go for a couple of days without food’ because of the heating costs. With the UK set to see the ‘snowiest winter’ for 27 years this year amid cuts in social care services and inflation in food prices, older people are facing especially tough challenges this Christmas.
According to Kent Community Foundation, the cold winter is likely to have a devastating impact on older people’s health, particularly with underlying circulatory or respiratory conditions, or over 75 years old.
- Approx. 10% of those aged 65 years and over say they feel lonely all or most of the time – this equates to around 52,300 people in Kent and Medway
- One in eight households in Kent is occupied by a pensioner living on their own.
- 64,000 households (1 in 11) in Kent/Medway are affected by fuel poverty.
- 10% of fuel poor households contain a person over the age of 75
- There were 630 “excess” winter deaths in the Kent (2014-15) and 312 Medway (2014-15).
[From Kent Community Foundation Surviving Winter]
A Cuppa with Company
Loneliness is the new social epidemic of our age and a major contributing factor to mental health problems such as depression. Older people with long-term conditions like dementia are even more likely to experience loneliness and depression because of the social isolation that the illness brings. Even though loneliness might not sound like a serious illness, when older people live on their own without social interaction, they are more likely to have falls, have ill health, and suffer strokes or heart attacks because there is no one to catch the symptoms. Loneliness can kill.
Of course, loneliness doesn’t simply come from living alone. Even those living in care homes or assisted living facilities may experience loneliness despite being around people and some studies have found that care home residents actually feel twice as lonely as older people living the community. This goes to show that being alone isn’t the same feeling alone. Indeed, many retired folks love the idea of finally having time for themselves after the children start their own families. We should be celebrating independence and freedom in later life by providing the support and resources that older people need in order to live well without patronising them or compromising their freedom.
To ask for ‘help’ or ‘charity’ can feel humiliating and the stigma around old age can sometimes mean that older people ‘put up’ with the cold and the hunger because they ‘don’t want to bother their family’. There are ways to offer support without making older people feel ‘weak’ or ‘useless’.
- Be a Friend
According to a study of what older people consider a ‘good life’, one of central things that make ‘ageing well’ is relationships that meet needs for intimacy, comfort, support, companionship, and fun. Simply being a friend to an older neighbour and making them feel included as part of the community can make a big difference, whether that is sharing Christmas dinners, going to the markets, or just having a cup of tea and a chat together. Being a friend also means paying attention to their needs, heating, food, access (e.g. icy footpaths) and health, seeking advice should you notice any causes for concern.
- Volunteer
The Royal Voluntary Service Kent and Medway relies on volunteers to offer support older people to maintain their independence and Age UK Medway has also been running a Befriending service for older residents to help them stay connected with the community. You can support organisations like Involve, who arrange Christmas dinners for older local residents, or Community Christmas, who run Christmas events for the community and provide guidance for those who with new ideas. They also have an events listing for older people and volunteers searching for something to do this Christmas. Contact the Elderly also runs tea parts for older people regularly, not just at Christmas. Or you can check out Medway’s Volunteer Centre to what kind of volunteering works for you. And of course, Walderslade Together are our resident befrienders, running the open cafe all through Christmas week with the invaluable help of volunteers.
- Donate
If you are feeling festive and generous, feel free to donate however much you can to Age UK Medway or Kent Community Foundation’s Surviving Winter Campaign to keep vital care and support services running. Alternatively, you can send those fifth pair of oversized socks you got from Secret Santa at work to Age UK’s charity shops to make space for next year’s wardrobe for a good cause. WALT also have a Just Giving page set up to enable more sessions to take place.
Other resources
Ways to Keep Active (AgeUK)
Keep Warm, Keep Well (NHS Choices)
Feeling well and overcoming loneliness (Royal Voluntary Service)
Advice for Older People and their families and neighbours (Be Winter Ready)
The Net Community Hub 