Community Resource

Community Resource is committed to making life better for people and communities in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, who are facing challenges. We help people stay active, keep connected and maintain their health and independence. We give grants to those in need and work with local groups offering advice and support so they can support their own communities.

www.commmunity-resouce.org.uk Fundraise for us

enquiries@community-resource.org.uk

01743 360641

Registered charity no. 1096779

Member since August 2022

Latest News

Volunteers sought to help people feeling isolated following the pandemic

Community Resource is inviting people to get involved in volunteering to help isolated people become more active.

Community Resource has over 50 people volunteering for projects including supporting people with hearing and sight loss, helping out at dementia support groups, providing support at the charity’s fitness events and acting as representatives for people in care homes who are deprived of their liberty.

They are keen to hear from those who would be interested in accompanying people who are feeling isolated as a result of the pandemic and need some motivation, support or encouragement to get involved in activities.

Sue Chalk, Head of Service at Community Resource, said: “As we all continue to get back to some sort of normality following the past two years, there are people across the county who are struggling to reconnect with outside world and continue to stay isolated in their homes.

“You may be newly retired, have just moved to the area or would simply like to support your local community. If you have some spare time, think you could help and would like to get involved we would love to hear from you.”

Activities that volunteers will go along to may include exercise classes, walking groups or yoga classes.

Sue added that the charity doesn’t have set criteria for the amount time someone needs to be available to volunteer. She said: “Your involvement could be an hour a week or it could be more, depending on how much time you have to spare and how involved you would like to become.”

To find out more and express your interest, please contact Community Resource on 01743 360641.

Community Resource dementia support group welcomes High Sheriff

A Market Drayton social group for people with dementia has received a visit from the High Sheriff of Shropshire.

Selina Graham met with members of the Care and Share group, which is run by Community Resource.

The meeting was part of an official tour of Market Drayton which also included Fordhall Farm, Alexandra Road Junior School and Mencap.

Care and Share offers a warm and welcoming place to socialise, make new friends and take respite for family carers and family members with mild to moderate dementia.

Mrs Graham was greeted by Sue Chalk, Head of Service at Community Resource, and Session Facilitator Sarah Sweeney, who talked through how the group operates and the benefits the meet ups bring to the members.

Mrs Graham said: “My father suffered from dementia, so I empathise greatly with those who are caring for and living with dementia sufferers. I know that it can be a very lonely place, and it is wonderful to meet charities and volunteers who step in to make a difference.”

There are currently four Care and Share groups across Shropshire: Albrighton, Church Stretton, Market Drayton and Shrewsbury. Members come together locally on the first and third Tuesday of the month and take part in activities including quizzes, reminiscing, gentle exercise, crafts and listening to speakers.

Sue Chalk said: “We’re thrilled to welcome the High Sheriff of Shropshire and share with her the benefits of Care and Share, which include bringing people together who are in similar circumstances so they can offer each other mutual support and friendship.

“We’re always keen to hear from anyone interested in joining Care and Share so if you would like to find out more about one of our groups please get in touch.”

For more information on Care and Share, please contact Community Resource – 01743 360641 / enquiries@community-resource.org.uk

About us

For over 60 years Community Resource has strived to make the County of Shropshire, a great place for older people to live, no matter what difficulties they face. In a rural county like ours, these difficulties can include isolation, loneliness, a lack of public support services and the challenges of growing old in a rural location.

We deliver our work across three main areas:

Wellbeing & Care Community & Support Funding & Advice

Our community-based projects put our older service users right at the heart of what we do, all while building thriving communities that will support its residents throughout their lives. We have a dedicated band of local volunteers who support our work and without whom we couldn’t continue to achieve so much.

Around 57% of the population of Shropshire live in our villages, hamlets, and dwellings, dispersed throughout the rural countryside. The population of our County is older, with the proportion of people aged 65 years and over being well above the national average. A high percentage of our older population live in the most rural areas.

We understand the importance of keeping elderly people in our communities, particularly those in rural areas, connected; to help them lead full and healthy lives. Older people are at particular risk of seclusion; they can easily become isolated, leading to loneliness and depression. This has been highlighted even more strongly over the past few years when many vulnerable people had to isolate due to the Covid19 pandemic.

This has left an increased number of elderly people feeling isolated and lonely, due to the shielding effects of the pandemic, and we can see a real social welfare crisis on the horizon.

With your support we want to make sure we can continue to support our local isolated older people and communities as they continue to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

We will do this by:

1) Making sure that older people living with a physical disability in our rural communities can stay connected with those around them who share similar experiences, by running our Musketeers and Maidens Group, which get together every week to enjoy activities, numerous cups of tea, chatting and lots of laughter! These meetings not only help to combat isolation and loneliness, but the group also offers peer to peer support, where people can talk to each other about their problems and find comfort in each other’s experiences.

2) Providing a Hearing Loss Support service to those older people living in rural areas who are facing a sensory loss. Older hearing aid wearers are at particular risk of seclusion; without a working aid they can become “cut-off”. Our Hearing Loss support service works with NHS Audiology to pair hearing aid wearers with a volunteer, who helps them as they adjust to their sensory loss. With 90% of our volunteers being hearing impaired themselves, they understand what our clients are going through, so can provide practical and emotional support. During the height of the pandemic our volunteers continued to support over 3,900 of our elderly hearing aid wearers by offering doorstep support, at a safe distance. This gave our service users, many of whom had been shielding, a lifeline.

3) Ensuring we continue our Care and Share programme which offers essential support to older people with dementia and the family members who care for them. Research by the Alzheimer’s Society has found that dementia can cause people to feel insecure and lose confidence in themselves and their abilities. They may also experience the effects of stigma and social 'demotion' - not being treated the same way by people - as a result of their diagnosis. All of this can have a negative impact on the person's self-esteem, which in turn can affect their physical and mental wellbeing.

Our fortnightly care and share meet ups across the County offer mutual support and understanding in a safe and comfortable place with like-minded people. They offer respite care, as well as physical and mental stimulation for the Dementia sufferer, helping to boost their all-round wellbeing.

4) Helping isolated older people suffering from poor mobility to attend gentle exercise classes provided by Community Resource, in the most rural areas, improving their overall health and wellbeing. We would also like to introduce a “Buddy Up” scheme, which would pair a trained volunteer with an older person who needs some additional support to become more active, perhaps after the loss of a loved one. The volunteer will accompany their buddy to the chosen activity and once the older person has developed friendships and feels more comfortable at the activity, the hope is they will continue on their own. Over the next 12 months, we want to ensure more than 100 people can attend activities to increase their overall wellbeing with the help of a Buddy.