New Pop Up Information and Advice Surgeries

Thanks to funding from Redditch Borough Council’s Councillor Community Grant Scheme and the support of Councillor Ann Isherwood, local charity Age UK Bromsgrove, Redditch & Wyre Forest (Age UK BRWF) is launching a pilot to develop ‘Pop Up’ Information & Advice Surgeries within Church Hill.

Latest County Council population figures estimate that there are over 2,680 people aged 50+ living in Church Hill.

Having access to information and advice that we can trust and help us make informed decisions is especially important as we get older which is why core to Age UK BRWF is its free and confidential Information and Advice (I&A) service. Age UK BRWF’s I&A team are trained to help people on a range of topics, including social care, benefits and pension advice, staying safe, warm and independent at home, as well as support for carers.

The funding from the Councillor Community Grant Scheme will be used to support an increase in I&A team staffing hours to pilot opportunities for developing ‘local I&A outreach’ provision linked with existing community groups and activities.

To introduce this service to Church Hill, Age UK BRWF is linking its I&A surgery with Councillor Isherwood’s existing Ward surgeries, which are held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Way Café at St Andrew’s Church. The first combined surgery will take place on Wednesday 25th September, with an Age UK BRWF I&A Advisor being available from 10am – 1pm to talk to and support local residents.

To help raise awareness of this new service, Councillor Isherwood, Age UK BRWF’s CEO Sam Humphray, along with other members of the Age UK BRWF Team, were at the Way Café on Wednesday 4th September to talk with members of the local community.

Speaking at this community launch, Age UK BRWF’s CEO Sam Humphray said;
‘We are very grateful to Councillor Isherwood for supporting this initiative and to the team at the Way Café for hosting the first of our ‘Pop Up’ surgeries. At Age UK BRWF we understand the value and importance that older people place on receiving face-to-face information and advice. Over the last eighteen months we have been focusing upon developing our I&A capabilities so that we are able to offer more Home Visits to local residents, in addition to launching a weekly outreach service at Redditch Library. By developing local, outreach surgeries, we hope to further develop the reach and accessibility of our I&A service within Redditch’.

Councillor Isherwood added; ‘I am very happy to be able to support this project through the Councillor Community Grants Scheme, and would like to encourage Church Hill residents to utilise these drop-in surgeries. I have only been working collectively with Age UK Bromsgrove, Redditch & Wyre Forest for a short time and yet feel and see the passion that this organisation has to help and support people’.

Councillor Isherwood and members of the Way Café Team also took part in a Dementia Friends session on Wednesday, as part of Age UK BRWF’s commitment to help raise awareness and understanding of dementia within our local communities.

With the additional support of Councillor Brandon Clayton and the Councillor Community Grant Scheme, Age UK BRWF is also seeking to launch ‘Pop Up’ I&A surgeries in Astwood Bank & Feckenham over the coming weeks.

If you are a local group/ organisation in Church Hill, Astwood Bank and Feckenham and are interested in hosting a ‘Pop Up’ I&A surgery, please contact Jo Hughes at Age UK BRWF on 01527 868855.