It has been a quick and eventful 10 months since I (Claire) joined the Libraries team at Falkirk Community Trust, designing and launching our new project – Care Words.
This Project has been generously funded by The National Lottery Community Fund (Previously The Big Lottery Fund) for an initial 3 years, supported by Falkirk Community Trust.
So what is Care Words, I hear you ask?
I have been advertising and recruiting suitable volunteers from across the Falkirk area, who are willing to give their time to visit local care homes to read, chat and reminisce with older people in a group setting. The volunteers receive training and on-going support throughout their experience from me in my role as Care Words Co-ordinator.
The volunteers bring their personality, humour and good conversational skills and combine them with the following variety of resources to carry out this initiative:
- themed reminiscence bags,
- books, texts and lyrics,
- tactile / sensory objects,
- photographs and newspapers,
So why do this sort of Project?
Our aim is to reduce and address the loneliness which older people can sometimes feel, even when living in shared accommodation or attending day services.
So what do older people gain from this? Well, we are finding that they:
- love meeting new people (like our volunteers)
- enjoy chatting about their lives, families, careers and pastimes
- like getting together with fellow residents over a cup of tea
- listen attentively to poetry, short stories and verbal anecdotes
- join in with singing
The dedicated Care staff at these establishments support our volunteers and clients by;
- encouraging everyone to have an input,
- creating a warm welcoming atmosphere
- providing additional information to assist with during the sessions,
- suggesting topics / themes of interest
The Volunteers are also benefiting from this by;
- giving something back to their community
- learning new skills
- meeting like-minded people
- becoming a part of a volunteer network
- gaining a sense of pride and achievement
- having fun whilst helping isolated people
Where We Are Now
So far the Project has:
- designed and delivered training sessions on the project and on Dementia
- recruited 23 volunteers,
- linked up with 10 local Care Homes,
- reached 127 people
The Care Words sessions only started in late October, after much planning and training, and so far have been very successful. Our volunteers have been building positive relationships whilst having fun at the same time and the feedback so far has been very positive.
“Hi Claire , well the February session at Burnbrae Care Home left me absolutely buzzing. The care words bag linked in to a project on Hollywood stars and we had the most lively session we have had yet. All the regulars participated and one lady E who often snoozes was very active in discussion. The conversation flowed and the quiz was much enjoyed.” – AS (Volunteer)
Over the next few months, we are looking forward to:
- recruiting more volunteers
- asking more Care Settings to get involved
- developing more resources
- enhancing the Care Words experience
- building on relationships
Stay tuned for the next update or get in touch if you’d like to volunteer with us!
Contact: Claire.Davis@falkirkcommunityturst.org
Claire Davis – Care Words Co-ordinator