CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other THEME THREE SUPPORTING EACH OTHER "I don't need an Exit Strategy. I live here!" FIRST STEPS - THE PARISH COUNCIL. CARESCO started in 1982 because two visionary County Council officers had earlier set up caring groups in Sawtry - the Day Centre for housebound people at the Village College, run by Ken Wilson, and the Pensioners' Lunch Club at the Agricultural Education Centre run by Joy Robinson. In 1982 Joy was made redundant, and the Do-it-yourself Lunch Club which she had started looked like disappearing with the Homecraft Centre which she ran. At the same time Ken Wilson was asked to spend more time not in Sawtry, but with the visually handicapped, where his specialist skills were really needed. Understandably the Social Services felt that once a pattern had been established, their officers' time could be used to set things going in other parts of the District. A rural community does not offer the economies of scale which justify maintaining a specialised organisation. So, with the possible loss of these officers, the Day Centre and the Lunch Club were both threatened with closure. Volunteers were helping with both groups, but were unwilling to undertake the full regular weekly responsibility of caring for 25 frail members and arranging for their transport, without some backing. The likelihood that these two valued institutions were going to close, roused Sawtry residents to seek means to save them. The strong feeling in the village was articulated by Bill Hales, a retired local government officer, who had himself benefitted from the culinary lessons of the Lunch Club and knew what a loss it would be to many others if it died. We learnt that the neighbouring town of St Ives had formed a Committee to run a Day Centre there, based in the United Reformed Church, and sponsored by Wallace Hodgson, the Mayor, who made it "his Charity". So (a little in the spirit of rivalry!) Sawtry Parish Council convened a Working Party on The Provision of Day Care Services in Sawtry. THE WELFARE COMMITTEE In June 1982 it was suggested that a cooperative effort might raise enough money for the salary and overheads of a "Care Coordinator" for Sawtry, who would manage the two groups and develop other services appropriate for the community. The Education Department invited the Village College, the Parish Council and the Social Services Department to join it in this venture. The Parish Council at once took up the challenge, and in July appointed a Working - 1 - CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other Party which assessed the existing voluntary support for caring projects in the village and proposed to create a new post of "Sawtry Welfare Coordinator" managed by a Committee representing Parish Councils, the Churches, the GPs' practice, Social Services, the Helpers and the Village College Community Association. Henry Morris, founder of Village Colleges, would have been pleased. "If rural England is to have the education it needs and the social and recreational life it deserves... there must be a grouping and coordination of all the educational and social agencies, whether Statutory or Voluntary, which now exist in isolation in the countryside; an amalgamation which, while preserving the individuality and function of each, will assemble them into a whole and make possible their expression for the first time in a new institution, single but many-sided, for the countryside." Memorandum to Cambridgeshire County Council Education Committee, 1924 Quoted in Dybeck, The Village College Way, p188. The Welfare Coordinator was to be responsible for:- (in general) identifying welfare needs of individuals and groups in Sawtry and its satellite villages, devising means to meet those needs, with the help of volunteers including some from among the unemployed, and enlisting the backing and cooperation of the statutory services and existing voluntary organisations. (These now are the AIMS set out in CARESCO's Constitution.) (in particular.) a. Organising and tutoring certain domestic economy classes. b. Giving cookery demonstrations at the request of WIs and other organisations. (fee- earning) c. Running the Pensioners' Luncheon Club (Mon. 10 - 1.30) with volunteer help. d. Organising the Wednesday Club for the Disabled. (Wed. 10-4) with volunteer help. e. Link person for Care-and-Share Car Scheme. (Volunteer Drivers.) f. Organising a Latchkey Club. (With Volunteer helpers.) g. Developing a centre with a range of activities and training classes for unemployed people. h. Exploring the possibility of a "Skills Exchange" and/or "Talent-Swopping Scheme" for both unemployed and retired people. It was noted that a-e were presently identified needs, while f-h would need to be developed by Committee and Coordinator in response to perceived circumstances. Looking back it is interesting to see how the intent, if not the letter of these ideas has since been realised! SAWTRY & DISTRICT CARE & RESOURCES ORGANISATION - CARESCO By foggy December 3rd 1982 an Open Meeting, supported by representatives from Sawtry and 9 of its surrounding villages, had agreed a name, adopted a Constitution and appointed a - 2 - CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other Committee. A letter to our County Councillor Jean Willmer, who had already given wholehearted support in seeking cooperation between different Councy Council Departments, sets out the thinking behind the planning. We see the "Care Coordinator" as essentially a tripod - whose function would be weakened by the withdrawal of any one of its three legs. (1) The SOCIAL element is clear, (represented at present by the running of the Day Centre.) (2) The HEALTH CARE element is in line with Government policy, which seeks innovative ways to support those caring for the elderly and sick in their own homes in the community. The resources for this community support are there in abundance, both skills and people, but those who could offer them need to be told where they are needed, and also taught the best ways of applying them. (3) This is an EDUCATIONAL challenge, perhaps more akin to the Library service, with people and their various skills, formal and informal, as the resources, whose effective mobilization needs professional training. Because of the informality of the work, and the need to respond quickly and sensitively to the people on the spot, we see the Care Coordinator's job as one which cannot be based ten miles away in Huntingdon. Our own Community Tutor is, however, fully occupied in organising the Adult Classes and the Youth Programme in the area. The "Educational " element of the job is also an answer to one of the problems faced by any social worker - the danger of alienating the very people who need your help. If a class or a club is labelled "for problem parents" most women would die rather than attend it. That is why Mrs. Robinson has been such a useful "social worker" in Sawtry. Under cover of her Cooking and Sewing classes she has provided a listening ear and a safety valve to many people. You could not tell who were the "clients" and who the "helpers". We see the very hybrid nature of the post as its strength. At village level people are one and cannot be split up into "Health problems", "Social problems" and "Educational problems". Nevertheless, all three elements are there, and the responsibility is shared among the three artificially created Statutory Departments. Sawtry Parish Council proposed setting aside #1,000 in its estimates as a contribution towards the project, and instructed its Clerk to apply for grants from the Social Services and Education Committees, the DHSS Scheme "Oppportunities for Volunteering" and various local and national Trusts. THE TWO CLUBS In the event, funds were not available from the County to employ our "Coordinator" but the ball had started rolling and could not be stopped. The Parish Council's #1,000 together with a small "starter" grant from the Social Services enabled Organisers for the Monday Club and the Wednesday Club to be appointed on minimal honoraria, for a trial period of four months. (Both are still with CARESCO fifteen years later!) The MONDAY LUNCHEON CLUB - aims to provide the members with the opportunity to work together to prepare a meal, and the enjoyment of dining together, giving a - 3 - CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other caring and supportive environment in which the members can socialise and participate in a variety of rewarding activities. The menus are chosen by the members, and if any are unable to attend because of ill health, a meal is taken to them. Within a year, a second club was opened on a Tuesday. Kathy Jones had worked for the Health Authority before her marriage and later taken a catering course. Two young daughters brought her in contact with many other mothers at play group and junior school and she had disciplined herself to obtain an Open University Degree. She was soon reporting "good morale and a few new members/helpers. They are planning an outing to Grafham Water." By the Annual General Meeting on September 21st she spoke of the "active participation of 16/18 members and helpers who met each week during term time in the Homecraft Centre to prepare and eat lunch." Members were asked to pay an attendance charge of 20p per day (in addition to the cost of their lunch.) This would go towards the cost of cleaning and heating. Members were brought to the club from Great Gidding and Yaxley by drivers from the Voluntary Car Scheme. Sawtry Village College Governors agreed to take responsibility for the Homecraft Centre Premises, and the Committee spent time arranging to reorganise the rooms and apportion Homecraft Centre equipment that the Lunch Club did not need. A "Coffee Stop" also met at the Homecraft Centre on Tuesday, organised by volunteers. The SAWTRY WEDNESDAY DAY CENTRE. A day away from the home for the housebound; a 'breather' for those who care for them; a chance to meet others, exercise or do craft work, sometimes go on an outing. A second day was soon organised on a Thursday, with transport from the Voluntary Car Scheme. Kath Allport was another mother who knew many people in the village through her children's contacts at school. She had already been helping as a volunteer at the Wednesday Club. Trained as a Children's Nurse, she was (and still is,) a volunteer with SPAN, an organisation which, like Homestart, befriends and supports families under stress. 28 members met regularly in the Adult Common Room of the Village College to do craft work and chat. Visitors always comment on the number of birthdays which seem to require celebration! Lunch came from the school kitchens. Transport was provided by a Social Services ambulance. Health and Social Work professionals were glad to be able to call in and "visit" several clients at one time. Moreover, those who cared for these frail members were given an invaluable break, to allow them to "be themselves."Sales of the craft items and other fundraising enable the Club to go on day outings, both to gardens in and around Sawtry (strawberry teas!) and further afield. 9 of the members came from other villages. It was soon agreed to explore the possibility of setting up another Day Centre in Alconbury. LATER DEVELOPMENTS - 4 - CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other The ALCONBURY CLUB. Several of the Wednesday Club members came from the neighbouring village of Alconbury, and Dr. Berrington was aware of others from his practice there who would benefit from attending a Club. John Dix from Social Services was most supportive so through 1983, meetings were held and premises explored. Various parents at the Alconbury Junior School offered to help, and one of them suddenly realised that her mother, recently arrived in the village, might make a suitable Organiser! The Club opened on March 1st 1984 and met in the Sports Pavilion on the edge of the village. This was a new building which had been specially designed to allow access to a young disabled member of the Sports Club. Two pleasant rooms had chairs with arms and tables suitable for craft work. An active team of helpers soon found drivers to bring in members and a qualified caterer living locally prepared and often cooked the meals. Some of the local school teachers help in holiday time when the young mothers are not free, and in term time, several children from the top junior class come across the field to help serve the meals. Like the Wednesday and Thursday Clubs, Alconbury goes on some excellent outings and in addition to occasional talks, regular music and movement sessions (gentle ones,) are arranged by helpers. The STILTON MONDAY CLUB. In October 1989, a new Club was opened at Stilton Memorial Hall, supported by a Steering Committee from the Parish Councils of Stilton and Folksworth, and organised by Eileen Day. During the first year they had 25 members and 9 very regular volunteers. They celebrated three 90th birthdays and enjoyed knitting blankets, playing dominoes and scrabble, and going on several outings. Lunches at first came with those of the Stilton Junior School from Sawtry Village College, but the club soon found a cook for themselves. CARESCO arranged a training course in basic food hygiene. Support came from the community in Stilton and Folksworth and from the Yaxley GP surgery. Organiser and helpers shared plans and Training with their colleagues in Alconbury and Sawtry. The Memorial Hall was not an ideal building. A majestic flight of steps led to the main entrance, which was right on the main street, and allowed little room for a suitable slope to give wheelchair access. It was suggested that the toilets should be adapted to enable wheelchair users to use them, (and grants would have been available,) but the Hall Committee felt this was not possible. The Fire Exit led straight onto a neighbour's garden, and this presented problems with the Fire Safety Officer. The Hall was very difficult to heat, both winter and summer. CARESCO obtained money to pay for comfortable chairs, (very necessary for the elderly who are seated for long periods, and the Organiser and her volunteer helpers always provided a warm welcome to visitors and regular attenders alike. The success of the Stilton Centre was overshadowed from the early days by transport problems. One loyal driver began to find the committment too heavy, and before long those who most needed the day out were experiencing the greatest problems because other drivers were hard to find. Numbers gradually fell to below 10, and it became difficult to find the rent of the Hall, so in 1996, the group decided to move to the Church Meeting Room. They - 5 - CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other continued to run outings, some shorter days for the benefit of frailer members, and some longer trips with the Stilton Over 60's Club, to make the hire of a coach worth while. CARESCO's support for the Stilton Centre was complicated by the fact that Stilton and Folksworth came under the Peterborough Health Authority and Social Services Division. Their Staff couldn't have been more helpful, but by having to deal with two Authorities, the administrative work of the CARESCO Organiser was more than doubled. (See Theme Seven.) Sadly in 1997 the continuing problems led to the resignation of the Day Centre Organiser, and the Stilton Monday Club had to close. CARESCO feels that it is important for the ownership of any group to remain in Stilton. An enthusiastic new Organiser was found (in Sawtry) and identified 16 elderly people who needed Day Centre care, but no volunteers can be found in Stilton, so plans to re-open are unrealistic. SMALL BEGINNINGS With hindsight it is clear that our failure to get funding for a full-time Coordinator's post was for the best. We were forced to improvise and make best use of the resources we had. In this we were greatly helped by the Social Services' Volunteer Coordinator (Huntingdon Division) Hazel Shellens. She taught us how to make a successful application to the Department of Health and Social Security Fund "Opportunities for Volunteering" which gave us core funding for the first three years, enabling us to develop new projects and prove to the Social Services Committee that we were worth supporting with a regular grant. We are a CARE and RESOURCE Organisation , and the greatest of those resources is our members. From the start we have supported each other and learnt from each other. People come to help and are helped themselves by giving help. Some who have served others all their lives, now learn that they can take a more passive role. Our first Chairman, Patricia Shaw, wrote:- "Since its foundation, CARESCO has been able to bring people together in situations which have offered growth to all concerned... Some innovations planned for the next six months continue this practice and show that the roots established are now strengthening, and the organisation is such that with careful husbandry it will grow and bear fruit for many years. What has made the roots strong is their foundation in the community they serve. Local people are using local knowledge to recognise local needs and then using local expertise to attempt to meet them. It is not restricted in its growth by compartmentalised or bureaucratic thinking nor by distance from its client population, for we are all members of the latter." CARESCO Annual Report: 1983-84 The same mutual support is found in other voluntary organisations in Huntingdon District. Encouraged by Hazel Shellens and Angela Hauch, her successor as Social Services Volunteer Coordinator, the main caring groups in Huntingdon District joined together to form HUNTS - 6 - CARESCO History - Theme Three - Supporting Each Other FORUM for VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS, which kept us in touch with each other and with wider issues. (See also Theme Seven.) We do not compete, but exchange our volunteers when appropriate, and learn from each others' experiences. The Cambridgeshire Community Council (now Cambridgeshire ACRE,) was also instrumental in bringing voluntary organisations together. Nigel Crisp (Director,) and Polly Howat (Patch Worker,) helped us organise a Conference (at Sawtry Village College,) which we called "PARTNERS in CARE" because its purpose was to bring together workers in the Health and Social Services with those in voluntary groups in the community, to share as equals each others' perspectives on the caring they undertook. Under Michael Bond, the Community Council's next Director, "Partners in Care " became a regular item in the County calendar, influencing the contribution which voluntary representatives were able to make to Joint Planning of Community Care. CARESCO's first projects depended primarily on PEOPLE, but an organisation can be made or broken by its PREMISES. The next chapter shows some of the problems we faced as we developed the innovations referred to by Patricia Shaw. Many of those concerned the buildings we were able to use. - 7 -