Date of the event: Wednesday 20th April 2011
Organised by: Age UK
Venue: The Methodist Church, Penrith
Post by: Lawrence Milner, Programme Officer
On Wednesday I headed north for the Target Wellbeing: Older People Programme showcase event at the Methodist Church in Penrith.
Organised by Age UK West Cumbria, the event provided an opportunity to learn about the excellent work that is taking place within our Older People’s Programme. Graham Hodkinson, Assistant Director for Older People at Cumbria County Council opened the event and reminded us of the purpose of the programme which focuses on the delivery of care to older people. Integral to the programme is the dissemination of learning through the region and beyond and this event provided a great opportunity to do just that.
Anna Campbell, Age Concern West Cumbria, explained about the projects that encompass our Older People’s programme, including:
- Care School, which is predominantly focused on upskilling care staff with training around subjects such as dignity, nutrition and self care
- Reading Groups, which provides resources and empowers care staff to facilitate their own groups post training
- Enriched Opportunities, which provides activities for older people in care settings
- Gold Standard, which is responsible for the development of “How to Guides” and the wider evaluation and dissemination of the programme.
Following the more formal presentations it was time to get interactive! Firstly we discussed our favourite books with Anne Carruthers and Anne Steele from the Reading Groups, who gave us a taste of the project and the significant social benefit it has. Lesley Gill then provided details of the dignity training programme, part of the Care School Project. A pub style “Fruit” quiz and fruit tasting session proceeded with Jo Ward and Jo Cambridge.
After lunch it was time for a dance class with Valerie Dugdale, part of the Enriched Opportunities project, who had the room participating in a number of embarrassing dance moves! Many of the projects rely of volunteers and Jane Wrighton shared her thoughts and experiences. Next Lakeland Productions gave us a taste of their current productions and once more the room was dancing and singing songs!
Drawing to a close, David Day spoke about the qualitative interviews completed to assess the impact of the Reading Groups project. Mary Bradley then reflected on sharing learning and sustainability post funding and the need to develop marketable products before Mark Hastings wrapped up proceedings.
All in all a light hearted and enjoyable but also informative day which helped communicate the work and benefits of the Older People’s Programme.
See http://www.targetwellbeing.org.uk/profile/older_people and
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/westcumbria/Our-services/Health--wellbeing/Target-Wellbeing/ for further information about the Older People’s programme.
