0300 111 3303
Image: older lady on the phone

How we help

  • In 2010 we sent out 10,875 Factsheets to people who needed information
  • We made over 4,000 befriending calls to isolated older people
  • We carried out over 1,000 volunteer tasks
  • We answered 6,404 phone calls from people needing us
  • We completed 283 gardening jobs across the Bournemouth & Poole area helping over 60 older people to improve their sense of security and enjoyment of life
  • We trained 15 volunteers in gardening, two of whom have moved into full-time paid employment

Here are just a few examples of people we have helped.

Keeping Warm

image: older lady touching a thermostat Betty came to Help and Care because she has been waiting for Warmfront to fix her boiler since March. We contacted Bournemouth Borough Council on her behalf and assisted with completing an application form for an Emergency Small Works Grant. Betty's boiler was fixed within a few days.

Support for a Carer

image: older lady John was 91 years old and the carer for his wife, who had dementia. John had fallen at home. His wife was in hospital but ready to be discharged home. Although John missed her, he didn't know how he was going to cope. He made repeated attempts to talk to someone about his concerns at the hospital, but felt that nobody was listening to him.
Our Advocacy and Support Worker installed a careline for John and also arranged a meeting at the hospital to discuss John's concerns about his wife. As a result, Maureen was reassessed as needing a care home placement.
Whilst funding for Maureen was being decided, John continued to feel that he was not being kept informed of his wife's medical situation. Another meeting was requested and at this the Consultant advised John that the prognosis was not good and his wife may not make it to a care home. Our Advocacy and Support Worker supported John to write a letter expressing what he felt would be his wife's wishes about her treatment. She also referred him to Bournemouth Society for the Visually Impaired for counselling through the impending bereavement.
Maureen's condition improved, however, and she was discharged to a Care Home. The advocacy worker enabled John's involvement in the process and also gave him practical support to make his wife's room as 'homely' as possible.


Money Matters

image: older man Jack was 75 years old. He had been discharged from hospital following a serious fall which resulted in a fractured hip. He had suffered previous strokes and had very limited sight, which made reading any correspondence difficult. Before Jack could be discharged, he had to agree to an environmental clean of his property and was unhappy about the amount he had been charged. He also needed support to get to the bank and post office as well as help to do his shopping.
Our Advocacy and Support Worker supported Jack to pay off his outstanding utility bills and rent and helped him to access his bank account. She supported him to organise his paperwork, to set up direct debits for future utility/rent payments and negotiated a reduced amount for the cleaning bill. She supported him to apply for Attendance Allowance and he used this money to pay for on-going support with shopping and housework that the advocacy worker arranged via a private agency.
Without this support Jack would have been in further debt, his physical environment would have deteriorated and he would not have been able to buy food - all of which would have a negative impact on his physical health and increase the likelihood of further crises and/or hospital admissions.
 

 

*The names have been changed to protect the identity of the people we helped.

Help and Care is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales
and a registered charity. Company Number 3187574. Charity Number 1055056.

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