At the beginning of this year we awarded funding to Caring Together in Woodhouse and Little London. They are a charity Neighbourhood Network Scheme based in Leeds. Our grant funded 46 sessions of exercise, which were Pilates and chair based exercises.
The sessions focused on the tendency for older people to become more isolated during the winter months. It addressed the important issue of maintaining older people’s activity levels during this period.
They operated on the observation that older people with frailty are particularly vulnerable during the winter months. Frailty by its definition makes people tired and results in retreating into inactivity during cold spells has been shown to accelerate the frailty process and result in more muscle loss, especially the heart, chest and leg muscles.
A total of 49 individual older people benefitted from the support offered as a result of our grant. In all, this amounted to 736 attendances over the course of the project. All of the people supported were residents of Woodhouse and Little London with 17 of these people being aged 75 or older. The remainder were aged between 60 and 75.
All activities were designed to ensure the maximum participation for those with disabilities. Without the transport provided, many members, particularly those without families, would have limited or no ability to participate.
In the charity's feedback report to us they included the case study below:
One of their long term members, a man in his eighties, who never previously attended Caring Together activities, but used them for support with practical matters was hospitalised recently after a fall. He had previously suffered a stroke and the combined effects of both the fall and the stroke had left him feeling depressed and lacking in confidence.
He received a series of visits as part of the Winter Warmth Scheme where he was presented with a range of options and activities to be involved in. He was initially sceptical and really did not feel like getting out again.
He agreed to attend the chair based exercise sessions by wheelchair accessible minibus and met friends that he had not seen since his work days. They encouraged him to attend the Caring Together drop-in where they met weekly for tea and a chat over a game of dominoes. He did this, initially by access bus, arranged by Caring Together and then, after his mobility improved, by subsidised taxi on the Caring Together account.
He said: ‘life feels good again. I thought that was it... I thought that my life was all behind me. I now have something to look forward to and seem to have more to say. I suppose that’s what having a life is all about’