Community Mentoring is a personally tailored, goal oriented service for people aged 50 and over, aimed at tackling the social isolation, and consequent exclusion which frequently follow on common events in later life, such as bereavement, illness or disability.
The aims are:
- To re-engage people in social activities which are personally meaningful and enjoyable to the individual.
- To help participants in the service to develop the tools, knowledge and experience which will allow them to confidently engage in and choose for themselves their own chosen personal and social activities in the future.
The Community Mentors are staff based in the voluntary sector and come from a range of occupational backgrounds. They work closely with Health and Social Care professionals, staff, other voluntary and community organizations and older people’s organizations.
Anyone can refer themselves or someone they feel would benefit.
Age Concern Exeter will provide the service in Exeter and will be known as ‘Link2’
Contact details
Link2 (Age Concern Exeter)
Martyn Rogers or Nichola Weate
01392 202092
reception@ageconcernexeter.org.uk
An example of the successful groups started by Link2 is the Exeter Linking Lives Community Choir
The “Time for Life” consortium, led by Age Concern Devon and including both the Devon Healthy Living Centres will provide the service across all of Devon except Exeter.
Read how the 'Upstream' project's photo Devon Drummers won a national award
Contact details
Time for Life Consortium (Age Concern Devon with Upstream and Westbank)
Ann Ovens or Sue Howell-Richardson
0845 296 7997
info@timeforlife.org.uk
The Sahara Project is a one year project running in Exeter, East, Mid and North Devon. funded by the Department of Work and Pensions. Our aim is to improve the health of isolated black and minority ethnic people aged 45 plus. The focus of the project is the community and making contact to bring people together to listen and identify ways forward together They have recently produced a leaflet and information for people thinking about becoming mentors.
In addition, we have been talking to the Hikmat Centre about designing and providing a specialist service for Asian and Chinese elders. It is intended that similar discussions will be held to establish a service for Polish elders. These three groups have been identified as priority groups for this service because of their non-take-up of existing services.
The service will be evaluated by the Peninsular Medical School (PMS).
Avoiding loneliness or social isolation can be a major factor in preventing low level depression and ill health. Voluntary groups already working in the community will offer an extra helping hand to encourage people to try out new activities or join existing groups. Community mentoring schemes are already being evaluated by our LinkAge Plus (LAP) pilot and their findings will help us to decide which approach produces the best outcomes.
Background
Mentoring was first piloted in Devon by the Upstream Healthy Living Centre in Mid Devon. The initiative was led by local GP Dr Peter Twomey who had been concerned about people coming to him for help whose needs could not be properly addressed by a medical intervention.
The pilot was funded by the Lottery and evaluated by the Peninsula Medical School (PMS). The pilot showed evidence of psychological and social benefits; improved physical activity and diet; behavioural and profound lifestyle changes; significant and clinically meaningful benefits. It also showed increased feeling of well-being and collateral benefits and stress reduction among carers, family and friends.
The success of this pilot interested the local health and social care community, who saw the potential for a new service addressing the needs of lonely, depressed, anxious and isolated individuals in ways they found acceptable and appropriate. The GP’s involved saw the potential to provide for people whom they had not been able to help effectively.
This led to a desire to test the approach further through the My Life My Choice project. Devon County Council negotiated funding from the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the Link Age Plus programme to extend the testing of this service.
Community Mentoring
The Upstream project in Mid Devon, which receives funding from Devon County Council, works with communities and health professionals to identify people who have become isolated or are at risk of isolation for all sorts of reasons, including where they live, family and personal reasons, ill-health, disability, community fragmentation, and much more.
Their photograph, 'Devon Drummers', shows three older women participating in an African drumming class at Upstream and is a great example of how the project is making a remarkable difference to people's quality of life.
The picture, taken by staff mentor Laura Conyngham, includes a former local teacher, a former pub landlady and a lifelong farmer enjoying each other's company while trying out African drums for the first time.
The photograph was entered into the competition to mark Social Enterprise Day on Thursday 20 November; a national day to celebrate and promote social enterprises - businesses set up to tackle a social or environmental need.
The results of the photo competition run by the Social Enterprise Coalition were announced on Thursday 20 November 2008 by Kevin Brennan, the Minister of the Third Sector, at an event in London celebrating Social Enterprise Day.
Devon Drummers was chosen by England's Social Enterprise Ambassadors after first winning the south west regional heat, judged by RISE - the south west Regional Infrastructure for Social Enterprise.
Lucy Findlay, Chief Executive of RISE, said: "We chose Devon Drummers because we thought the photograph really exemplified the best of social enterprise. Three women who were originally excluded from social gatherings and creative stimulation, clearly having a great time trying out a new activitiy. We are thrilled they are now the national winners as well."
Jonathan Bland, Chief Executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition said:"The photograph competition was conceived as a way to celebrate social enterprise in action, changing lives and communities. Upstream is an incredible example of a social enterprise that is innovative, entrepreneurial and truly changes lives. We congratulate them on their success in the competition."
Upstream encourages people to get involved in stimulating creative, learning and social activities that build self-confidence and self-esteem, prolong their active life, and help them to remain independent for longer.
People can make new friends, share new skills and experiences, find life more interesting, and talk about everyday ways to take better care of their own mental, physical and social health.
Upstream also include some intergenerational activities to bring older and younger people together.
Simon Goodenough, Director of Upstream, says: "All our participants and our professional colleagues will be thrilled and amazed to receive this national award. They definitely share this success. This highlights the huge value of a stimulating and creative approach to genuine social enterprise, in which local solutions determined by local people doing things they enjoy and understand are seen to be the answer in tackling much wider issues.
"Upstream sees people daily make huge leaps of faith in themselves and each other, renewing hope and self-confidence, regaining control of their own health and quality of life. I am astonished at the courage and resilience of our participants, so many of whom have led difficult lives.
"We are also delighted and fortunate to be working with professional and community colleagues who appreciate the proven benefits of our creative approach to life, which also reduces costs to the NHS."
"Its a piece of cake" says Simon
"Even more important than the recent Devon Drummers, I hope you'll be pleased to hear that at the NICE Annual Conference in Manchester yesterday Upstream won the NICE Shared Learning Award 2008 in Public Health with our submission on the NICE Guidance on Behaviour Change. We were the only 3rd sector organisation in sight. I think this is a bit of a breakthrough for the 3rd sector in general that we must build on. Maintaining our creative approach for the two presentations I had to make, I was armed with an outsize (approx 8 cubic feet), mouth-watering, multi-textiled slice of cake especially made by Upstream participants, mentors and providers, that required an entire seat to itself on the train to Manchester. It went down a storm"
