Guild Care: Chief executive talks about Creating Connections, the charity’s new service for over-65s

With the country reaching a ‘new normal’, our charity has considered how we can help the local community going forward.
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Guild Care chief executive talks about Creating Connections, the charity’s new service for over-65s

By Alex Brooks-Johnson, Guild Care chief executive

With the country reaching a ‘new normal’, our charity has considered how we can help the local community going forward.

Volunteer meet and greeters will welcome people taking part in group activity sessionsVolunteer meet and greeters will welcome people taking part in group activity sessions
Volunteer meet and greeters will welcome people taking part in group activity sessions
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If you are not aware, Guild Care’s vision is to deliver innovative and life-changing care services which help older people, children and adults with learning disabilities, and those living with dementia and their carers to share and enjoy a richer family and community life.

With the new world that we find ourselves in, in some cases the ways we fulfil this vision will be different from what we have done before.

One question we have asked ourselves is how we can help reduce loneliness and isolation in Worthing’s older population. These issues have always been present but they have been exacerbated during the pandemic.

Thanks to funding from West Sussex County Council, we have answered this question with a new community service launched at the beginning of July, Creating Connections.

Alex Brooks-Johnson, chief executive of Guild CareAlex Brooks-Johnson, chief executive of Guild Care
Alex Brooks-Johnson, chief executive of Guild Care
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Creating Connections is a prevention service for people aged 65 and over. It aims to reduce loneliness and isolation in Worthing through companionship, shared interests and community participation. It is hoped that by reducing social isolation and loneliness, we can contribute to supporting people to remain living independently for as long as possible.

The service provides a volunteer-led range of Worthing-based opportunities and activities codesigned by people aged 65 plus for people aged 65 plus. Specifically, it includes one-to-one befriending and companionship via the phone, in the community, and in people’s homes; weekly face-to-face group activities, such as seated exercise, music, photography, quizzes and book clubs; monthly social events, including Sunday lunch and Saturday Social events at our Bradbury Wellbeing Centre; and a virtual Friendship Club, which will offer a range of online activities accessible from home.

We have been providing a three-month programme of taster sessions which will run through until September. If you would like to register your interest, please contact our customer service team, email [email protected] or call 01903 327327.

As I have already noted, this service is volunteer-led. Therefore, we are recruiting three types of volunteers - one-to-one befrienders, meet and greeters, and small group leaders.

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One-to-one befrienders help the service’s members connect with others through weekly telephone contact or companionship visits. Meet and greeters welcome people taking part in group activity sessions, including serving refreshments and keeping an attendance register. Small group leaders co-ordinate activity sessions, enabling people to feel at home and engage with their chosen activities.

Volunteering is a wonderful thing to do and benefits both the volunteer and their beneficiaries. We recently sent a survey out to all our volunteers, one of the questions of which was what benefits they had taken from volunteering. Responses included ‘Meeting people. Making friends.’; ‘Giving something back to the community’; ‘Keeps me active!’; ‘Spending time with residents and listening to their stories’; and ‘Helping to make a difference for those needing support’.

If you would like to become a volunteer, please contact one of our volunteering team on [email protected].