The Centre, established over 27 years, led by a strong volunteer team who contributes to community cohesion of vulnerable beneficiaries from migrant communities. The majority have a mental &/or physical disability are aged between 70 and 97. Most are frail, vulnerable, isolated with majority living alone & no family members to support and so we encourage independent living, create safe resilient support networks from their peers by offering stimulative mental and physical activities e.g. Physical & mental stimulation, Health awareness sessions e.g. Diabetes, Welfare rights, Cancer & hosts Home visiting for the ‘Shut In’s
The Centre also hosts a seasonal Youth Club (Youth Creation YC) for children aged 6-16 alongside, Cape ToT’s Mothers & Toddlers group.
The Centre contributes to community cohesion which helps the beneficiaries be more resilient, independent, less isolated, more active, healthy, socialising with different cultures - making positive outcomes in improving mental and physical, health and wellbeing. Ensure the vulnerable eat a healthy meal which enables them live alone longer and takes pressure off the NHS.
Located within a deprived location of Birmingham but situated on a busy main road, settled migrants utilize our services offered aiding knowledge of local facilities, encouraging security and social inclusion.
The Centre relies heavily on our loyal, committed and 'diverse' volunteers base with ages ranging from 24 to 84 years old who share their experiences and skills – this is an ethos that we buy in as each build confidence to deliver sessions and play active rolls within the team and within their own community, aiding self- worth.
By bringing people together we are building stronger independent communities who are less isolated who are engaging more with different cultures from within the community for a more social cohesive community.
During the pandemic, we revised our services from site to 'Remote' where we offer a telephone befriending & home visiting service which includes primary pre-care - twice a week, meals on wheels to the vulnerable and Weekly Grocery & Medication collection services. Our 'Re-Stim-U-Late you project introduced our vulnerable elderly to the digital world which was a success with positive stories to include beneficiaries purchasing their own laptops and interacting in Zoom sessions. We also offered Doorstep/garden exercise - mental & physical alongside basic digital sessions building confidence on their phones - and Tablets and introducing them through set programmes - building confidence to use platforms such as Zoom, WhatsApp for social engagement - afternoon Tea, Health awareness talks & Exercises.
The Centre's is located within a deprived location – drugs, gangs, homeless etc and our prescense within our community is renowned for its longstanding offering of Support, Referral to other professional services and a positive friendly environment in the form of a ‘Community HUB’.
The Centre have a positive track record of successful pilot projects that have been developed into resilient, valued and an anchored service for our community beneficiaries.
Whilst migrating our services we had to look at a blended approach of working in order to meet the varying needs of our clients/ community. This included socially distanced Face to Face contact (within Government guidelines), Socially distanced befriending contacts, Weekly telephone contacts, Visual aid support.
The above allowed us to ensure seniors nutritional needs, , mental health, physical health, spiritual health needs were not compromised.
Many of our beneficiaries have a mental &/or physical disability, aged between 70-97. Most frail, vulnerable, isolated with majority living alone with no family to support. The service Users mental state have deteriorated - they are anxious and most scared to leave their homes. The abrupt long-term absence of our/and their regular activity/service alongside long-term Shielding impacting their ‘normality’ instigating confusion/Anxiety.
which has been disheartening to witness and some volunteers have had to seek counselling.
Our initiatives that have been implemented at the start of the Pandemic were initiated through multiple reviews from our beneficiaries and community members 'of loneliness and Isolation' which have been positively impactful with lifesaving outcomes such as immediate referrals to professional services i.e. Diabetes (from initial referral of appointment to confirmed diagnosis) , medical appointments, referrals and through mental and physical activities - beneficiaries were able to defer onset of negative mental, physical and emotional illnesses/wellbeing which have assisted in protecting our NHS during this pandemic.
Elderly DAY CARE
Offering Day care for the elderly alongside befriending, home visiting, Meal drop off service service.