Three voluntary organisations benefited from the Surviving Winter Appeal in 2010:
Age Concern Chelmsford’s Kathy Mapes day centre in the heart of the town is a warm and welcoming haven for older people and is open five days a week.
A donation of £1,000 given by Essex Community Foundation during last year’s Surviving Winter Appeal helped the centre keep its services running through some of the coldest and harshest weather for decades.
Chairman Freda Mountain said: “We provide around 40 hot meals a day which are freshly cooked in the kitchen at our day centre. People can come here from 10.30 in the morning to have a chat and socialise, which is so important. They can then have a wholesome two-course hot lunch and, two days a week, we have afternoon bingo sessions.
“The charity does have a large heating bill, as we want to keep the centre warm and we don’t want to turn the controls down. The people who come here range in age from 58 to 96 and as they can come somewhere warm during the day it can mean that they don’t have to have their heating on so high at home.
“It also saves them having to cook for themselves at home. They say they eat better here when they are not alone and so enjoy traditional meals such as toad in the hole and beef stews. They certainly appreciate the difference between this and frozen meals.
“The centre is a real lifeline for a lot of people and many of them call it their second home.”
The donation of £1,000 was an important contribution towards the day centre’s running costs, as funding is always needed to maintain the vital services.
Staffing costs are kept to a minimum, with just two employees and a part time cleaner. Around 20 volunteers give their time and skills to make the centre a success, helping with cooking, serving and socialising.
Family Support Clacton provides social and physical stimulation, community inclusion, and participation to meet the health and well being needs of older people. Their mission is to enable people to remain in their own homes for longer and through their 2 day care centres they support people with dementia, physical and mental disabilities.
Family Support received a £1000 donation from the Surviving Winter Appeal run by Essex Community Foundation in 2010. It enabled them to increase the services they could offer to the elderly and vulnerable in the local community in Clacton and surrounding rural areas such as Holland by the Sea, Kirby, Thorpe and Point Clear. They supported around 130 people each week during the winter months.
Faye Cooper, Head of Operations, explained “The centres offer a hot meal from Monday to Friday and we were able to buy a number of flasks so that clients could take homemade soup and a roll with them at the end of their visit. This went down extremely well and was much appreciated!”.
“For clients that were unable to leave their homes during the winter, we delivered a hot meal to their door. Our drivers and staff excelled themselves to support clients during a difficult winter”. Carers have also expressed their thanks for the support that Family Support has provided by enabling them to have respite from their carer duties.
Wyvern Community Transport based in Rochford provides a transport service to residents living in the Castle Point and Rochford areas of Essex.
The organisation received a donation of £1000 from the Surviving Winter Appeal run by Essex Community Foundation in 2010, enabling them to expand their minibus service and offer a Saturday service for 20 weeks during the winter months when elderly and vulnerable people can feel most isolated.
Andy Woodley, manager of Wyvern, said “The minibus service is a lifeline for residents in Castle Point and Rochford who find it difficult to use public transport. It enables them to be part of their local community, visit the supermarket, the doctor or carryout activities which many people do without thinking”.
Some residents do not have relatives nearby to help them, they may live in rural areas where there is no bus service or they may have restricted mobility. The Wyvern minibuses are adapted to enable access by wheelchair and their drivers have time to help the passengers get safely on board.
“Because we get to know the residents over time, we can also notice when there are changes to their health” said Andy. “One of our drivers was concerned when a resident he had gone to collect, didn’t answer the door. The driver looked through the letterbox and saw the resident lying on the floor. Our driver was able to raise the alarm and get help. It doesn’t bear thinking about how long the man might have had to wait until someone found him.”
Wyvern operates a weekday minibus service, employs a small team of drivers and relies on volunteers for many of the services it provides.
