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| SAFE SENIORS 2008 - ELECTRIC BLANKET TESTING DATES | The
annual 'Safe Seniors' event is being held from Wednesday 24th to Friday
26th September 2008 from 9.45am to 4.00pm at Solihull Fire Station,
Streetsbrook Road, Solihull.
This is an opportunity for Electric blanket testing, and information, advice and practical help about safety in the home.
Please note that the Electric blanket testing is by appointment only.
To book or for further information please contact Age Concern Solihull on 0121 705 9128.
We look forward to hearing from you.
| July 2008 |
25TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR - UPDATE ON EVENTS
| The year began with a cake!
On 14 March we held a small but very pleasant tea party to mark the Charity's 25th Birthday.
Next there was a Quiz Night!
This
was held on 7 May at Solihull Municipal Club and it proved to be a
really enjoyable evening for all concerned. We had 102 people,
split into 20 teams, and £617.80
was raised on the night. This included proceeds from a Raffle
where prizes were donated by local businesses including Die Stamp
(Julie Bell) and Associated Independent Stores. Thanks also to
Eric Lyons butchers, Morrisons in Solihull, and Knowle and Dorridge
Tennis Club for the use of their crockery and cutlery at no charge.
Did you see us at the July Farmers' Market?
We
had a stall at the early July Farmers' Market , located on the High
Street, and were delighted with the number of visitors and general
enquiries we received on the day.
And coming up later in the year .....
Future fundraising events include:
The Big Knit
Flag Day - 30 August
Age Concern Week and The Great Sunday Lunch - both in October
Craft Stall - December
Quiz Night No. 2 - to be confirmed
More details to follow!
| July 2008 |
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RAISE FUNDS FOR AGE CONCERN SOLIHULL
WHEN YOU SHOP ONLINE
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You can now shop online and raise money for Age Concern Solihull
at the same time!
Simply go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ageconcernsolihull
and use the links to the retailers that are provided (over 500 retailers
featured), at no extra cost to you, and Age Concern Solihull will receive
a free donation of up to 15% from every online purchase you make.
You can also raise funds when you search the web – use www.ageconcernsolihull.easysearch.org.uk
as your search engine and raise 1p per search!
A few of the 500 + retailers registered with easyfundraising
include:
B&Q, Amazon, Toys R Us, Woolworths, John Lewis, Next, WH
Smith, Debenhams, Comet, Ebay.
All monies raised help us to run our local services, so a big THANK
YOU to everyone who goes the ‘easyfundraising’ route!
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June 2008
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AGE CONCERN SOLIHULL CELEBRATES 25 YEARS
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Age Concern Solihull is proud to announce 2008 as its ‘Silver
Jubilee’ year!
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed from our ‘About our
Charity’ section that the constitution of Age Concern Solihull was
formally adopted at a public meeting on 14th March 1983.
To mark this milestone we will be organising a number of events
across the Borough in 2008.
Watch this space to find out more!
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March
2008
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SOLIHULL NEIGHBOURHOOD CARE SCHEME
AWARDED 5 YEAR GRANT FROM ‘BIG LOTTERY FUND’!
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We are delighted to announce that the ‘Big Lottery Fund’ has
awarded £333,925 to Solihull’s Neighbourhood Care Scheme. The grant will fund a new 5 year
project to provide the care and support needed to enable older people to
live independently in their own homes.
This Grant is allocated from the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘Reaching
Communities’ funding programme that aims to bring positive changes to
communities and improve the lives of those most in need.
Anne Hastings, Chief Executive Officer, said “We are absolutely delighted
to receive this Big Lottery Fund grant to run our Neighbourhood Care
Scheme for the next 5 years.
The project will help to give older people what they want, which
is to be able to maintain their independence and continue to live in
their own homes for as long as possible through a range of practical
tasks and long term befriending and support”.
For further details on our Neighbourhood Care Scheme, please refer
to the ‘Services For You’ section of the website.
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February
2008
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DATES FOR CASTLE BROMWICH PENSION
SERVICE AND WILL WRITING SERVICE APPOINTMENTS
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The local Pension Service are holding free surgeries at 89
Windleaves Road, Castle Bromwich, B36 0BT, on the following Wednesday
mornings:
6th February
5th March
2nd April
7th May 2008.
Please call Trish or Lisa on 0121 747 9851 to make an
appointment for a free benefit check.
Also, we have a Will Writing Service at Castle Bromwich
(run by Sally, a Solicitor at Canty & Co). She will be at Windleaves Road on the following Fridays:
1st February
29th February
28th March
25th April
23rd May
20th June.
To book an appointment and ask about costs, please telephone Trish
or Lisa at Age Concern Castle Bromwich on 0121 747 9851.
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February
2008
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WINTER WARMTH GRANT AWARDED TO AGE
CONCERN SOLIHULL
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Age Concern Solihull has been awarded a £1,000 grant from Plumbing
Trade Supplied (PTS) to help older people stay warm this winter.
The grant will be used to provide room thermometers, and emergency
help with heaters, electric blankets, clothing and repairs.
The grant is part of a two-year partnership between domestic
heating, plumbing and sanitaryware supplier PTS and Age Concern, who have
been working together to raise £150,000 for Winter Warmth Grants and
other projects.
Lucy Coton from Age Concern Solihull said “We are delighted with
the PTS grant we have been awarded.
The additional funding will augment the vital services we are
already providing to older people to help them stay warm and well in
winter.”
Age Concern Solihull has sufficient funds to help those most in
need.
Please contact Lucy Coton at the Solihull Office on 0121 705 9128,
or Trish Kelly at the Castle Bromwich Office on 0121 747 9851 for further
information.
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January
2008
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AGE CONCERN’S ‘BIG KNIT’ – THE RESULTS
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Towards the end of last year 46 volunteers knitted 1,700
little bobble hats to raise money for Age Concern Solihull. This was part of a national
campaign to raise money to help older people during the winter months. The hats were designed to sit
over the lid of innocent smoothie bottles and were sold in Sainsbury
stores during November. “For
every hat we earned ourselves 47p” explained Margaret Sharp of Age
Concern “and we raised a total of £799”.
The hats are a novel and enjoyable way of fundraising and the
campaign has won National awards.
Anyone wishing to register an interest in Age Concern’s
fundraising initiatives should contact The Priory on 0121 705 9128.
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January
2008
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NEW SOLIHULL AGE CONCERN CHARITY SHOP
FORMAL OPENING – WEDS 16TH JANUARY 2008
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At 11.00am on Wednesday 16th January, Age Concern
Solihull’s Chairman, Eric Bourne, will cut a ceremonial ribbon and
declare the organisation’s new charity shop at 89 Hobs Moat Road
officially open for trading!
The charity’s staff and volunteers have put in a lot of hard work
to prepare the shop for its role as one of four Age Concern shops in the
Borough raising funds to help the charity to continue providing services
for the older people of the community.
Age Concern Solihull’s Chief Executive Officer, Anne Hastings,
said “We hope shoppers will come along at 11.00am on Wednesday 16th
to meet Trustees of the charity, shop staff and volunteers, see what the shop
has to offer and enjoy a small refreshment.”
Age Concern would also like to take this opportunity to mention
that anyone who donates goods to our Hobs Moat shop can fill in a Gift
Aid Form (as long as they are UK tax payers) and then Age
Concern can claim 28% extra back (on top of the value of their donated
goods) from Customers & Excise in tax.
Donators can pick up a Gift Aid Form from the Hobs Moat shop or at
The Priory.
Thank you for your support !
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January
2008
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AGE CONCERN URGES OLDER PEOPLE TO STAY
SAFE THIS WINTER
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As the clocks go back and the nights start drawing in, Age Concern
Solihull is urging older people in the Borough to take extra care in
their homes this winter.
Every year more than a quarter of a million elderly people seek
medical treatment in an Accident and Emergency Department as a result of
a fall at home. A fifth of these falls result in a fracture and although
most do not result in a serious injury the faller can also be at risk of
hypothermia or pressure sores if they are unable to get up.
Chris Weston from Age Concern Solihull commented: “The risk of
falling increases as we get older – an 85 year old is five times more
likely to have a fall than a 65 year old – so it is important that help is
readily at hand. Older people can often feel particularly vulnerable
during the colder and darker winter months but there are some things they
can do to help them feel more confident in their own homes. Regular
contact with family and friends for example or, if this isn’t practical,
a personal alarm system will make them feel safer yet still let them live
their lives as normal.”
A product such as Aid Call from Age Concern, enables
an older person to gain instant help when they fall in their home, giving
peace of mind to the older person whilst
enabling them to maintain their independence.
The Aid Call alarm operates a two-way speech link to
enable the person who has raised the alarm to talk to an operator within
seconds. The operator can
then in turn contact their chosen keyholder - a friend, neighbour or
relative - who will visit and offer assistance. If there is no contact available, the emergency
services will be contacted.
Aid Call provides
reassurance for over 40,000 people every year and the
24-hour emergency response system can be installed at homes anywhere in
the UK, where possible within 48 hours of the initial enquiry.
Lindsay Kirk from Aid
Call added: “We pride ourselves on delivering a top quality service
to people at risk across England and Wales. We have a dedicated Emergency
Response Centre on hand 365 days a year and answer an average of 1600+
calls over a 24 hour shift.
80% of calls are handled within 20 seconds, 90% within 30 seconds
and 98.5% within 60 seconds to reach the TSA target of 96.5%. In addition, Aid Call is a long
standing and accredited member of the Telecare Services Association (TSA)
which sets a Code of Practice that ensures - through annual audit - all
accredited members operate to a very high standard and always employ best
practice.
To find out more about Aid Call or to arrange
a demonstration visit Age Concern
Solihull Insurance Office (open Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm) or call
Chris or Alison on 0121 711 3849.
|
October
2007
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BECOME A WEATHER FORECASTER AND
HELP AGE CONCERN IN THE PROCESS!
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Age Concern Solihull is inviting people to help them
raise funds for their work by joining The Weather Lottery. “In view of the very changeable
weather you might cheer yourself up too by winning some money!” says Anne
Hastings.
Match 3 numbers and you win £2 but match 5 numbers
and win £200 and all 6 numbers for £10,000.
Age Concern’s Lottery is a novel way of helping the
charity. “For every line of
numbers, we raise approx £1.60 per month” continued Mrs Hastings, “therefore
the more lines people buy the better we are able to maintain our services
to older people in the borough.”
Each entry line costs £1 a week and the winning
numbers are chosen from the last digit of recorded temperatures in 6
locations. These include
such places as Tenerife, Stockholm and Istanbul hence the focus on the
weather.
So why not press on the Bouncing
Ball on our Home Page to find out more!
|
October
2007
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‘OAK PROJECT’ 3 YEAR FINDINGS
PUBLISHED
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The ‘Oak Project’ was commissioned in 2004 and implemented
locally by Age Concern. The
Project’s aim was to help isolated older people living in rural areas of
the West Midlands by giving them improved access to information and
advice on a range of issues including health, housing, benefits, debt and
community care.
Despite being a Metropolitan Borough, Solihull is 70% rural and
25% of the population of Solihull reside in these rural areas (see the
‘Rural Information & Advice’ page within ‘Services for You’).
Some of the findings from this West Midlands Project, that will
be passed through to Age Concern regions nationally, include:
Age Concern being a trusted and respected
organisation to undertake the Oak Project in the West Midlands.
· Home visits by Age Concern a vital service for
people in isolated environments.
· There is a greater need for local
advertising/information to be placed specifically where older people
regularly visit and would expect to find reliable information, such as libraries,
post offices, church halls, banks and doctors’ surgeries.
· There was a general unawareness of rights and
entitlements.
· Younger people also need to be alerted and
signposted to a reliable source of Information and Advice on older
people’s issues (as relatives or carers).
· Internet usage low amongst older people in rural
areas.
· Overall, Oak was successful in encouraging older
people in the West Midlands to claim over £690,000 in benefits, while
partnership work with the Pension Service also encouraged more to apply.
Looking to the future, participants in the Oak Project were aware
that their circumstances, particularly independence, were likely to
change. Topics that older
people felt they would need more information on in the future include
Changes in housing needs (downsizing or moving to a care home),
Investment and Financial matters (eg advice on trusts for family members,
or entitlement to Attendance Allowance) and other general information on
advocacy and support services.
For full details of the findings of this 3 year Project please
visit: www.oakproject.co.uk
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July
2007
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RECYCLE YOUR OLD MOBILE PHONE AT
OUR CHARITY SHOPS!
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Age Concern Solihull has recently launched a campaign for people
to bring in their unwanted or broken mobile phones to any of our 3
Charity Shops (Solihull, Shirley and Castle Bromwich – for addresses see
the Shops section of the website).
You don’t need to have a sim card or charger with the phone but
these accessories can be recycled as well if they are just gathering dust
at home!
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July
2007
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