Spotlight on EngAge Rotherham 2016

Friday 11th November saw us mark Remembrance Day with our annual coffee morning, held at Clifton Park

Garden Rooms. The event was held between 10am and 12noon and supported by The Mears Group. Attending the event this year was a mixture of Age UK Rotherham staff, volunteers and older people, as well as students from Thomas Rotherham College. 

The coffee morning is a very informal event where people have the opportunity to discuss their memories of growing up in wartime and post-war Britain over a cuppa and a cake. As well as the discussions, there was a collection of old photographs and wartime poetry for people to look at. Following the tradition of Remembrance Day itself, everyone observed a two minutes silence at 11am.

Pauline said, ‘Although I’m a bit wobbly on my feet now, it was important to me to stand with everyone else and remember the sacrifice made by so many people. As a young girl growing up in Rotherham during the second world war I remember wanting to join the women’s land army, but I was just a bit too young at the time so never managed it. Coming here today, talking to people and looking at the war time photos has brought back lots of memories. Everyone has been so friendly and it’s been lovely to get out.’ 

Kathryn Wild, EngAge Rotherham Support and Development Worker, added, 'It is important to recognise Remembrance Day each year and remember what people have fought for. It’s especially important for us to spend this time with those who have been directly affected by world conflicts and their aftermath, supporting those who fought or performed other types of national service.' 

Also in November:

• Todwick Group raised £112.50 at a craft fair, selling the crafts they had made at the group.
• EngAge Rotherham staff attended the Rotherham Older People’s Annual General Meeting.
• EngAge Rotherham staff took part in a Reducing Isolation in Later Life through Co-Production Workshop.
• EngAge Rotherham staff attended a Big Walk 2017 Committee Meeting.

This month saw the start of our new volunteer drop in sessions which are taking place on the second Monday of each month between 12noon and 4pm.  With 2017 just around the corner, why not start your New Year by helping others and come along now to one of our sessions? 

Our drop in sessions provide the ideal opportunity for an informal chat about the volunteer roles we have available and to find the right role for you.  We can help you fill in our volunteer registration form and answer any questions you have about volunteering with us.

EngAge Rotherham Support and Development Worker, Kathryn Wild, said, ‘Our volunteer drop in sessions are great for people who want to volunteer but may be unsure what they can do, what commitment may be involved or who simply want to chat with someone before applying for a role. We can talk through any concerns, help find a role that matches skills, wants and needs and also provide help to complete the application process.’

Interested? There’s no need to book beforehand, simply call at our main office at the Galax Business Centre, Eastwood Trading Estate, Fitzwilliam Road, Rotherham between 12noon and 4pm and ask for the volunteer drop in. 

Our next drop in sessions are:

• Monday 14th November
• Monday 12th December
• Monday 9th January

October was Older People’s Month and we were involved in the following events:

• We took part in Rotherham Older People’s Day at the Rotherham Minister – the feedback was that this was the best Older People’s Day event to date. People told us that it was in a good venue, at the right time and there was an excellent selection of stalls present.
• We were involved in the HealthWatch event at New York Stadium
• We held an Age Friendly Rotherham event at the Town Hall

Also In October:

• Our Community Connectors finished their training 
• The Brinsworth group visited Eden Camp
• EngAge Rotherham attended the Wickersley Neighbourhood Group (WING) Annual General Meeting

Our Community Connector training is well underway and the first group of volunteers will soon be out and about in Rotherham’s communities ready to help older people and their families access information and local services.

Community Connector volunteers will be based at venues around the Borough and visit community groups in local neighbourhoods. They will be equipped with information about local and Age UK Rotherham services so they can help you to find the one that’s right for you. 

Connectors will also be able to talk you through different options, provide you with leaflets and book appointments with Age UK Rotherham’s Information and Advice team for more specific queries such as benefits advice.

The volunteers have all undergone a period of training to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to be a Community Connector. Training has included:

• listening and communication skills
• barriers facing older people 
• equality and diversity
• confidentiality and consent
• using and recording information
• Age UK Rotherham services
• understanding your local community
• problem solving and contingency planning 

Iain Cloke, EngAge Rotherham Development Officer, said, ‘The training has gone really well and we’re excited about our volunteers now using their new skills and knowledge to help people in their own community. This is just the start of the project so we’re still looking for more volunteers to become connectors as the project extends across the Borough.’

Keep an eye on our website as details about our Community Connector locations and venues will be available from mid October.

If you’re interested in becoming a Community Connector please call us on 01709 910 699, take a look at our volunteer opportunities page (LINK) or come for a chat at our volunteer open afternoon on Monday 10 October 2016 between 12noon and 4pm – it’s at our Galax Business Centre office, Eastwood Trading Estate, Fitzwilliam Road, Rotherham S65 1SL.

Also in September:

• Todwick Grey Matter Group celebrated its first birthday as a group.
• Brinsworth Good Companions, Thorpe Hesley Friday Club and Maltby Bevan Crescent all celebrated their second birthdays as groups.
• Todwick Grey Matter group learnt how to do book folding.
• EngAge Rotherham was part of Rotherham Show.
• EngAge Rotherham took part in Age UK’s Influencing Age Conference and Rotherham Borough Council’s Shaping the Future Event. 
• Maltby Redwood Group invited local residents to a charity coffee morning

With the rain pouring down outside many of the 'communi-tea' group members ignored the conditions and joined in the 'par-tea'. Along with the cuppa, members said 'bon appe-tea' to the strawberries, meringue, fresh cream and homemade scones on offer. 

Grey Matter group meets in the leafy surroundings of Todwick church hall between 2pm and 4pm on Friday afternoons. The group, which is full of 'personali-tea' and 'creativi-tea' offers a selection of different activities for members to try.

Each session begins with a fun quiz and the group also has some very competitive scrabble and rummikub players. In recent sessions, members have made candles in tea cups and pop up cards as well having a day out to Denby Potteries. The group continues to grow in popularity and it can be said that each week they truly have a ‘mashing good time’. 

The group originality started in May 2015 as EngAge Rotherham – Be Less Lonely project and became an independent volunteer led group in September 2015 - new members are always welcome. 

Kathryn Wild, EngAge Rotherham Support and Development Worker at Age UK Rotherham, said, ‘It is great to be invited back to visit our groups and see them thriving. These groups are so important to local communities and people who may feel lonely at times. I encourage anyone thinking about attending one of our groups to go and have a taster session and see if they enjoy it.’ 

To finish, in the words of Henry James, in the book, ‘The Portrait of a Lady’: ‘There are a few hours in life more agreeable than an hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.’ 

Also in August:

• An Age UK Rotherham volunteer induction was held – the next volunteer induction day is planned for the 19th September, so if you’re interested in volunteering get those forms in quickly.
• RotherFed’s digital champions have started work at our Social Centre.
• Two new volunteers have joined the EngAge Rotherham administration team.
• EngAge Rotherham has begun work with Rotherham’s Older People’s Forum and Police Community Safety Team on raising awareness of money scams.
• The first group of Community Connectors have started their training.

Volunteers from Age UK Rotherham and Age UK Barnsley were the first to take part in a new fire safety training programme as part of our Safe and Well project.

The twelve volunteers carry out a variety of roles in each Age UK and came together to learn about the dangers of fire, what might cause fires, how to prevent them and what to do if you have a fire in your home.

On completion of the training, the volunteers will share what they’ve learned with other people. This can be done both formally by, for example, giving presentations to groups and also informally by passing the knowledge to the older people they are visiting in a befriending role.

The aim is to help people think about what they would do in their own personal situation, in terms of the steps they could take to lower the risks of a fire within their home and to plot out their own personal fire plan. The volunteers that have undertaken the training have been given workbooks they can share with others, such as older people who have a befriender or members of our affiliated groups. 

The training was led by Speak Up, which has worked with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue to develop the sessions. In addition to the day’s training, there are some great resources, which anyone can access on the Speak Up website, including a workbook (similar to the one used in the training) and a video. There is also an interactive socket to ‘plug in’ a variety of devices to see if you may be trying to plug too many items into one socket.

This training session will be run again later this year so if you’re interested in taking part and volunteering as a Safe and Well Support Volunteer or for one of our other EngAge Rotherham volunteering roles, please visit our volunteering page or call 01709 910 699 for more details.

The Safe and Well: Fire Safety project is a partnership project between Age UK Rotherham, Age UK Barnsley, Crossroads Care and Speak Up. The project is funded by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.

Also, in July:

• An Age UK Rotherham Care Co-ordinator visited four affiliated groups to talk about the help available for older people through the Independent Living Support service
• Todwick group had a stall at the church fete
• Meetings were held with the Chislet Centre about setting up a Community Connector hub there
• EngAge Rotherham had an information stall at the RotherFed Conference and Awards

Age UK Rotherham Chief Executive Lesley Dabell and EngAge Rotherham team member Kathryn Wild joined Brinsworth group regulars in June for an insightful talk about bee-keeping by local enthusiast Mel Brown. 

Cue lots of bee related puns! The group, which has swarmed in size in recent months, was buzzing with excitement as bee keeper, Mel, spoke about how he had become a bee keeper, his bees and the process of making honey. Usually, the group is a hive of activity but even the busiest of members were captivated by the Mel’s talk.

Mel brought some of his bees and a jar of honey with him, which people were very happy to try. Following the talk, the group waxed lyrical about Mel’s speaking skills which they said they had found highly interesting. 

Lesley said, ‘The talk was fantastic, I never thought that you could learn so much about bees. It was also great to hear about all the different activities that group are doing, see it grow to this level and be able to completely sustain itself.’

The Brinsworth group, now named Good Companions, meets on Friday mornings at the Parish Hall between 10am and 12noon. The group costs £2 per session and there is also a raffle. The time flies by at the group, with a mixture of activities which, as well as talks, includes trips out, quizzes, board game, and new age kurling. 

Good Companions was originally set up in March 2014 as part of the Fit for the Future project and took flight as an independent group in September 2014 before becoming an EngAge Rotherham affiliated group in April 2015.

Our affiliated groups are a great way to get out, make friends and try new activities, and in the words of honey lover Winnie the Pooh, ‘A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey’. 

If you would like to join a group give us a buzz on 01709 910699 and we will match you with the group that best fits your needs.

Also in Engage in June:

• EngAge Rotherham talked to the RotherFed’s Digital Champions group.
• Volunteers took part at the Voluntary Action Rotherham big walk.
• EngAge has held its own recruitment event as well as talking part in the one held at Voluntary Action Rotherham.
• The first meeting has been held with the local elected officials about become Age Champions.
• The Bevan Crescent group in Maltby held a thank you presentation for the Mears apprentices who repainted their venue.

On Sunday 22nd May, our Bevan Crescent Group received the ‘person of the year’ award from Maltby Town Council. The group was nominated by Mrs Bromilow for trying to help those people that are less fortunate and lonely. In the last couple of years the group has raised money and donated goods to various charities, including donating fourteen bags of food to the 2014/15 Food for People in Crisis Christmas Appeal and hosting a coffee morning for Age UK Rotherham’s befriending volunteers and service users. 

The award was presented by Councillor Lyndsay Pitchley, the new Mayor of Rotherham and Councillor Jon Carratt, the Chair of Maltby Town Council. Mrs Sarah McCreton, a volunteer for Lost Chord, was the runner up in the person of the year award. While the young person of the year award was won by Abbie Platt, Ryan Hart and Charlie Hart who regularly support fundraising and extra-curricular events at Maltby Hilltop School.

The Bevan Crescent group meets on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The group enjoys a good natter as well as quizzes and singing. Group sessions cost £1 and include tea or coffee and biscuits.

Lesley Dabell, Chief Executive of Age UK Rotherham said, ‘We are very pleased that the Bevan Crescent group has won this award. The group helps us tackle loneliness within Rotherham and it is important that that is recognised.’

Also in EngAge:

• A presentation about the Community Connectors Project was made to  Rotherham Older People’s Forum
• We held a series of meetings with potential volunteers – more about our EngAge Rotherham volunteer roles is on our Volunteer page
• The Todwick community group has planned an outing to Denby potteries 

This new community based project is designed to help people find the services that they need right on their doorstep.  Those who become Connectors will be directly giving back to their own neighbourhood which, in turn, will help to build stronger local communities.

Connectors will be based in ‘hubs’ - easily accessible, frequently used local community venues.  Older people will be encouraged to drop in, as no appointments is necessary, and have a chat with their local Connector who will help them to make informed decisions about the help or support they need.

To become a connector you will need to be a great listener. Connectors will be empathetic people, who want to help others. They will use their own local knowledge about services in their area so that they can share it with older people looking for help.  This may, for example, be providing information about local groups, coffee mornings or transport links.  A Community Connector’s role is to listen, help with people’s queries and direct or refer people to appropriate sources of help

Full training is provided for anyone that wishes to become a Community Connector. Training will take place over a number of days and will be ongoing while doing the role.

Iain Cloke, EngAge Rotherham Development Officer, said, ‘Volunteers are a vital part of the EngAge Rotherham project.  They enable us to work in more areas and help more older people. Volunteering is an excellent way to stay involved in your community as well as helping your physical, social and emotional heath.’

We’re currently looking for volunteer in the following EngAge Rotherham roles:

• EngAge Rotherham Helper
• Community Connectors
• Safe and Well Support Volunteers
• Group Visitors 
• Linking volunteers to our affiliated groups

For more information about becoming a volunteer take a look at our volunteer opportunities page. Read more about our Safe and Well Support Volunteer roles on our news page 

Also in April in EngAge:

• Bevan group took part in a workshop delivered by RotherFed on how to make the most out of using your mobile phone
• Brinsworth group had a trip out for a pub lunch and to visit a local garden centre
• EngAge Rotherham equipment is now available to be hired out by affiliated groups again, free of charge
• Through the Safe and Well project, 438 older people received home visits between January and April. Referrals were made, where appropriate,  to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue for assessments, smoke alarms and other help across Rotherham and Barnsley. 

Spring has definitely sprung at the Friday Club at Thorpe Hesley and this month the group enjoyed preparing Easter Flower arrangements under the tutorship of local expert Pat Lister. 

Group members learned a variety of skills required for producing a good flower arrangement. These skills included learning to soak oasis (the base/sponge used in a flower arrangement) correctly, how to wire up leaves, how to stabilise arrangements and many other useful hints. Flower arranging has become a very popular activity and this was Pat’s third visit to the group.  

The Friday Club is supported by a team of volunteers under the guidance of Jane Allonby and Shelia Breeze. It was set up in June 2014 and after 10 weeks of direct support became a volunteer supported group in September 2014.

Following the end of the Fit for the Future project in March 2015, the newly independent volunteer led group took up the option of becoming an Affiliated EngAge Rotherham group. Affiliated EngAge Rotherham groups are offered support to run their groups by the EngAge Rotherham project as way of helping them continue.

Group sessions are held on Friday afternoons between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. Each session costs £2, however first sessions are free to new members. The cost of the session also includes refreshments. They always start with village and group updates and on most weeks a quiz, before people break into small groups to do a variety of activities. These  range from the more physical activities of a game of New-Age Kurling or table tennis to board games, dominoes and crafts to a manicure by one of the group members or to just having a chat. In addition to regular sessions the group holds workshops (such as flower arranging), invites people to give talks and organises trips out.

The group meets at the Trinity Community Centre, Sough Hall Avenue, S61 2QP. The building is off the same street that the GP surgery is on, positioned behind the church and also contains the local library. For more details on this or any of other Affiliated Groups, give EngAge Rotherham a call on 01709 910699.

Also in EngAge during March:

• EngAge Rotherham staff attended a workshop held by our national partners on loneliness and identifying areas where people are at greatest risk.
• Brinsworth group, Good Companions, have planned a series of outings and talks for later in the year including booking a trip to a local garden centre and a talk to be given by a local bee keeper.
• Community Connector contract has signed with RMBC – development of this new EngAge programme will start in April. If you are interested in our Community Connector role or any of the other volunteer roles please call 01709 910699.
• Affiliated group members and Two’s Company Befriending Service users and volunteers attended an Easter coffee morning in Masbrough.

Thank you to Jane Allonby for her contribution to and photographs used in this article.

Some of the members of the Thorpe Hesley group are pictured below with the Lord Mayor - see March's Spotlight for more details. 

Kathy joined the EngAge Rotherham team as an administration support volunteer after completing work at the Dream Project at Voluntary Action Rotherham. Dream supported Kathy with a programme to move between being a volunteer and gaining future employment. In her time with Dream, Kathy was recognised as a Community Ambasssador. She is a welcome addition to the EngAge Rotherham team.

Kathy got straight into her new role at Age UK Rotherham. So far, Kathy has helped make resources, such as bookmarks, to promote EngAge Rotherham and visited two local community groups to chat with members and research resources for the groups so she can create new quizzes for them. Looking forward, Kathy will be carrying out an audit of equipment which is loaned to groups and booking the equipment in and out.

Kathy says she is enjoying her time with Age UK Rotherham and is looking forward to getting more involved with the local community groups.

Kathryn Wild, Engage Rotherham Support and Development Worker, said 'It's fantastic to have Kathy volunteering with us. Kathy's enthusiasm and willingness to learn new skills has shone through and we're looking forward to expanding her role in the future as her knowledge and experience grows.'

Volunteers are key part of EngAge Rotherham, both to help deliver the programme to its full capacity and provided ways for people to stay connected and independent. EngAge Rotherham still has other volunteer options available in the form of Community Connectors and Community Fire Safety Champions.

Community Connector will become our eyes and ears in their local community. Based locally, Community Connectors, will be available to listen to people and refer onto other services such as the team at Age UK Rotherham or other local community groups etc.  Community Connectors will be based within their own local community in local venues such as Parish Halls, Church Halls, Libraries, and local cafes.

Community Fire Safety Champions will give talks to local groups and at events, hand out information and signpost people to the Fire Services. Talks that are given by Fire Safety Champions can be done at groups they already attend or the EngAge Rotherham team can help to book in groups where Fire Safety Champions can give talks.  

Full training will be provided for both of these roles. If you're interested in volunteering with EngAge Rotherham contact Kathryn Wild on 01709 910 699 or visit our volunteer pages.

Also in February:

• Todwick group held a craft session in which they made 3-dimensional cards
• Thorpe Hesley group had lunch with the Mayor and Consort at the Town Hall
• EngAge Rotherham took part  in a South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Conference
• EngAge Rotherham staff attended Voluntary Action Rotherham's 9th birthday celebration