Empower Inspire CIC was established at the beginning of 2022 as a direct response to a post-Covid world. The idea was to reduce isolation and promote inclusion through the creation of community groups to be formed on a needs-led basis.  The organisation operates in the Neath Port Talbot/Swansea Bay area of south Wales.  Empower Inspire has now set up eight community groups that benefit 110-120 people a week.  These include a group supporting parents of children with additional needs, an intergenerational group meeting for coffee mornings, two Singing for the Brain classes, and a group initiative aimed at improving mobility in older people.

At the February 2023 meeting, Allen Lane has agreed a grant of £5,000 to Empower Inspire to set up an additional group in Glynneath within the Vale of Neath.  This will run as the ‘Sunflower Café’ and provide an informal session for individuals living with dementia, and their carers.  The dementia café will help to reduce the isolation felt by individuals and their families, and improve their wellbeing.  It aims also to improve opportunities for signposting/referring people into professional services where appropriate.

www.empowerinspire.co.uk

Melksham Free Dining was set up during the Covid pandemic, with the aim to bring people back together again after restrictions were lifted. The organisation is focussing its work on elderly, vulnerable and lonely people who are otherwise socially isolated. It offers a free two-course nutritious lunch, followed by social activities and support by volunteers. It takes place in a community hall in Melksham, a small town in Wiltshire with 42 people currently benefitting.

In October 2022 a grant of £4,000 split over two years was agreed. The Foundation’s funding will go towards general running costs of the weekly provision. Anticipated outcomes are that the organisation will continue supporting over 40 people each week with a healthy meal, emotional support and companionship.

www.mcdining.org

Elder Voice works from Blairgowrie across a large rural part of Eastern Perthshire.  It offers a range of services that aim to benefit and advise older people living in the area.  It runs a befriending scheme, offers regular shopping and prescription uplift services, provides a community and patient transport project, and offers a ‘Store to Door’ service with an emphasis on healthy eating.  More than 500 older people are registered as clients of the charity’s work.

The Allen Lane Foundation offered funding to Elder Voice at the June 2021 meeting of Trustees.  The £5,000 grant will contribute towards general running costs of the organisation. Anticipated outcomes of the work are that older people will have improved connectedness to services with a reduction in isolation and loneliness; and that they will have improved wellness and self-esteem, promoting independent living.

www.eldervoice.org.uk

MyCareMatters is a community interest company that works across a wide area, largely around the south of England.  Its aims are to improve the experience and outcomes of care in any social setting for people with communication challenges. It aims to empower people with the information, tools and support that they and their families need to gain a sense of control and involvement in their own care.  It has been running two specific projects to help older people and those with significant conditions such as dementia.  The first is around later life planning and centres on a useful resource ‘My Future Care Handbook’; and the second is a Buddy programme that uses the Handbook as a framework to supporting people in identifying and meeting their goals for later life.

At the February 2021 Trustee meeting, the Allen Lane Foundation awarded a grant of £7,500.  This is a contribution towards costs of running the Buddy Programme, and particularly to help better inform people who are newly diagnosed with dementia and their families and older people in general, around a future care plan.  Outcomes of the work include improved wellbeing and peace of mind for individuals and families; a better experience for individuals in later life and at the end of life; and overall reduced costs to society through fewer unwanted hospital admissions and/or medical interventions.

www.myfuturecare.org

Medway Volunteer Centre works across the Medway area of Kent from its base in Gillingham.  It works to recruit, register and provide opportunities to people volunteering across the area, and supports organisations to enable volunteers to become involved.   Requests for volunteers are increasing all the time and it runs a training scheme for volunteers with learning and other difficulties so giving them much needed confidence.  The Centre also runs its own range of services, such as a transport service, befriending scheme, reminiscence and gardening services.  Around 900 volunteers are involved.

A grant of £5,000 has been offered at the Foundation’s October 2020 meeting.  Funding is towards the post of a new role at the Centre – the Tackling Loneliness Coordinator.  This new full-time post will work to recruit new volunteers and work directly with organisations and community groups across Medway to identify more vulnerable and isolated older people and coordinate actions to reduce loneliness for these people.

www.medwayvolunteercentre.org.uk