Tag: help for the elderly

We should be all together now

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www.alltogethernow.org.uk

All together now!

It’s not what I expected to find on my recent visit to a local garden centre.It was not so much that I would not expect to see free newspapers or promotional material on a stand at the check-out point for passing customers to pick-up.No, my surprise was that I had not seen this publication before. I duly lifted a copy of All Together Now! returned to a seat in the coffee shop and read it from front to back.Having nursed a cup of coffee for as long as I felt was reasonable, I went home.

Now in its ninth year of publication

Chock-full of entertaining but above all informative articles and news items, All Together Now! is the messenger for a registered charity dedicated to providing a a top class news service for anyone whose life is affected by disability,long term health conditions or age. Now in the ninth year of publication, its area of coverage is the North West of England, although it now reaches a much wider audience with its digital newsletter offspring. The content is light in touch, bright, positive in tone, and above all likely to be very helpful for a range of age groups and disabilities.

In the June/July 2014 issue, features and news include:

-the creation of robots that enable people to walk again
-latest developments designed to make it easier for those with hearing or speech disability to make phone calls
-how yo obtain a downloadable easy read guide on using a mobile phone for people with learning difficulties
-news of improvements to be made in access at train stations for disabled people
-how to protect yourself from bogus callers at home
-recently announced changes in ISA rules
-views on the future of caring for older people
– a driving licence renewal reminder and tips for the over 70s,
and much, much more

I like its light, but not flippant, way of reporting serious issues affecting health and age challenged people particularly in the North West, and also elsewhere.

There is plenty of human interest and inspiring personal adventure stories galore,and hand in hand there is a wish to its readers to have fun and seek to be entertained.

I am signing-up for the digital fortnightly e-newsletter. This is a publication that deserves a much wider readership in the UK.

UK helpline for lonesome older people launched

 

Believing that there is a serious need in the UK for a new service to help pensioners who suffer from loneliness, Esther Ranzten of  That’s Life! fame has recently launched Silver Line. In these days of potential information overload, help in making the right links to appropriate resources for a disadvantaged section of our society would seem to be great idea.
Silver Line with some founder sponsors and ongoing public donations has set itself-up to act as a ‘befriending’ organisation which those in need of its services can access by telephone 24/7. Trained advisors will be on hand to provide free and confidential advice, and of course a comforting word.
0800 4 70 80 90
 
Of course, many older people of pension age are not lonely, in the sense that living alone they are unhappy with that condition. But for others, there will be that constant debilitating feeling of being left adrift from mainstream society.This feeling of no longer having purpose in life with no tangible contact with other people may arise from from many causes. Perhaps the sudden lack of camaraderie provided by an active and busy workplace, little social interaction from enforced immobility from accident or illness, the lost contacts as family members move or pass away.
0800 4 70 80 90
 
The helpline advisers will help to point callers in the right direction for resources specific to a caller’s needs. That might be locating services in a local area provided by say, ageUK or the Royal Voluntary Service which can give further advice and offer companionship.
0800 4 70 80 90 
 
Many elderly people are not be prepared to admit they are lonely.They maybe too proud,or they may fear the prospect of inviting someone to ‘befriend’ them. Trained advisers will attempt to break down these issues,with security of the individual very much in mind.
The service of course requires public financial support, and there are opportunities to become a volunteer and an adviser to the cause. This may be just for you, if you now find  you have more time to spare and would like to help people in need.
0800 4 70 80 90
It these times, it seems to me that another such help link is to be welcomed. Some may feel they are being patronised. But from the TV and press coverage, and public reaction, to the announcement of the new service, it has been generally well received.
The founder,Esther Rantzen, was successful with the child line she set-up 27 years ago which now forms part of the NSPCC.
If you can bear the jingle when you go to the Silver Line website you will find the contact telephone details if you haven’t spotted them already in this post! Do let me have your views.