{"id":5859,"date":"2022-03-20T19:37:57","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T18:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/bristol\/?p=5859"},"modified":"2022-03-20T19:37:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T18:37:57","slug":"age-uk-bristol-kay-libby-chief-executive-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/bristol\/2022\/03\/20\/age-uk-bristol-kay-libby-chief-executive-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Age UK Bristol:\u00a0 Kay Libby Chief Executive Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kay started \"\"<\/a> attention and said that happy, cheerful people live 7 years longer which made <\/b>us all smile! <\/b>She then went on to tell us about the services they\u00a0 provide and about the services they are about to start. <\/b><\/p>\n

Information & Advice service:\u00a0 <\/strong>providing information and advice on a wide range of finance, housing and social care matters.\u00a0 We are also currently supporting older prisoners in Horfield prison.<\/p>\n

Community Services:<\/strong>\u00a0 these are our charged for services and include the New Beginnings day centre in Withywood, our Home Support service and Memory Connections which is a cognitive stimulation therapy service for people with mild-moderate dementia and is aimed at delaying memory loss.<\/p>\n

LinkAge<\/strong>:\u00a0 this is a service aimed at improving people\u2019s access to activities and events.\u00a0 It is LinkAge that organise tai chi, art on Zoom, FAB cafes and discos, befriending and peer support and the phone-based chat groups.\u00a0 We are also currently supporting older prisoners in Horfield prison.<\/p>\n

Helpline:<\/strong>\u00a0 our \u2018front desk\u2019 is staffed by volunteers and if they are unable to help with a query, they pass the call to our Triage Worker who will ensure that the person gets the right help, either from Age UK Bristol or another organisation.<\/p>\n

Support Hub:<\/strong>\u00a0 this is the collective of over 40 organisations who work with\/for older people in Bristol and who are now working collaboratively and supportively together since the beginning of the pandemic.\u00a0 We came together to ensure that \u2018no door was the wrong door’ for an older person in the confusion and crisis of the earlier days of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Hospital discharge:<\/strong>\u00a0 We are piloting a hospital discharge support service alongside the Red Cross and hope to expand this if successful.<\/p>\n

Bristol Ageing Better<\/strong>:\u00a0 about to close, this was a 7 year programme funded by the National Lottery Community Fund aimed at tackling social isolation.\u00a0 The programme was evaluated by University of the West of England and we have achieved statistically significant findings in respect of a number of service models.\u00a0 As a result, a smaller team of 3 will work for a final year on an entirely new project called Connecting Communities<\/strong>.\u00a0 In this year, funded by the Clinical Commissioning Group, they will roll out some of the positive models across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.\u00a0 This will include FAB caf\u00e9s, leg ulcer clinics, group therapy for people with mental health problems and peer-peer bereavement support or \u2018Share, Tell and Remember, (STAR) sessions amongst other services.<\/p>\n

Active Ageing Bristol<\/strong>\u00a0is another programme of work that focuses on improving physical activity.\u00a0 Our Active Ageing Bristol manager is behind the successful Walkfest initiative that happens annually.\u00a0 She also supports Walking Football, rowing, intergenerational boat building, and dance projects.<\/p>\n

About to start:<\/strong><\/p>\n