Lovely Claire, from our Care Words project, is working from home like many of us at the moment. Care Words is a National Lottery funded project which trains and supports volunteers to run reading and reminiscence groups in care settings for older people.
We have lots of wonderful volunteers and many residents looks forward to the monthly groups a great deal. As care settings are closed to visitors at the moment, Claire has been looking at other ways she can keep the spirits of care home residents up.
Claire and Tanya
Every week, Claire will be sending out handwritten letters to any local care settings for older people that would like them, she will Facetime where that is possible and she will share a little home made video to give residents something fun to watch and to chat about – here’s her first one, all about her cat, Phantom
Claire is planning further videos and is hoping that local people will get in touch with a story about life in the area and some photos so she can put them together and share them with care homes across the Falkirk Council area. Stories might be about the 60s, and 70s, or about working life in Grangemouth, for example.
If you have any good stories that you think might spark memories in local older people in care homes, then please get in touch by email to tanya.milligan@falkirkcommunitytrust.org and I’l pass them on to Claire
Falkirk Community Trust Libraries have been delivering a
new project called Care Words, a community based shared reading initiative
which is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. The Care Words Project is a free service run
by Falkirk Libraries and facilitated by our trained volunteers in various Care
Settings across the whole Falkirk Council area.
We provide opportunities to reduce the isolation and loneliness sometimes
experienced by older people in day and residential care settings by delivering
shared reading experiences and reminiscence sessions. These activities, run by
local volunteers, support residents to share past memories helping them to
engage with the people around them.
One of our Reminiscence packs
Case Studies
Ms C is 73 years old and resides in a small Care Home which also provides services and support for people with mental health issues. Ms C has a visual impairment and mobility issues which are a barrier for her living independently. Our volunteers visit on a regular basis and engage with her as part of a small group and she loves chatting about all sorts of subjects. It is such a pleasure to see her laugh, reminisce and entertain others in the group with her witty personality. Responding to her needs, we use a variety of resources which include tactile objects, scents and music which stimulates and includes her during the Care Words sessions. We feel she has become more engaged and involved with those around her; has become less isolated and comes out of her room more to participate in activity.
Mr H enjoying a trip out with Care Words
Mr H, a gentleman residing in one of the Care Homes we visit, was feeling very isolated and lonely and spent his days immersed in books, with not many visitors. He felt he was unable to engage effectively with other residents, due to the nature of their health issues. Whilst getting to know him, we discovered that he had the most interesting life story. He was keen to discuss this with our volunteers, in particular about his life in the Navy and serving in World War II. We decided to record his memoirs and showcase his story as part of Falkirk Libraries People’s Story Project. We were able to facilitate and support him to attend the event at The Hippodrome Theatre, on the eve of his 99th birthday where his story was screened as the big finale. His anecdotal film recalled when his warship was torpedoed and sunk leaving him adrift in the sea, awaiting rescue. His story ended with this cliff hanger and the audience were left astounded, wanting to hear more! Many of the audience approached him afterwards and showed their appreciation of his bravery and courageous efforts during the War, calling him a “Hero”. This feedback definitely boosted his self-esteem and he returned to the Care Home feeling elated. Discovering that people are interested in what he has to say has given Mr H a new sense of purpose, makes him feel valued and appreciated. We have noticed his overall outlook and demeanour is much more positive now and we know he really looks forward to our visits as he now refers to us as his “new friends.” We are continuing to work with Mr H to record and compile the rest of his life story.
If you’d like to get involved in this wonderful project, then please contact Claire Davis on 01324 506800 or claire.davis@falkirkcommunitytrust.org
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.
Claire and Tanya celebrate the start of 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,
Our gardening reminiscence bag
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.
Feedback from a care setting
“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!
