CARESCO History - Conclusion CONCLUSION "Faith gives substance to our hopes and makes us certain of realities we do not see...By faith Abraham obeyed the call to go out to a land destined for himself and his heirs, and left home without knowing where he was to go." Hebrews, 11 The story of CARESCO has been a venture of faith and those who shaped it have had the courage to step into the unknown. It has depended on - 1. The imaginative use of local resources, people, premises and structures ; 2. The philosophy of Village Colleges as seen by Henry Morris (Director of Education for Cambridgeshire) - "institutions... which at the same time provided for the needs of the whole family and consolidated its life....which lay athwart the daily lives of the community they served....so that education was not an escape from reality but an enrichment and transformation of it." 3. The recognition and fostering of the powers of leadership which are present in all communities even the newest. 4. The networking and mutual support which takes place in a living community. 5. The genuine partnerships between volunteers and professionals which grow with the self- confidence of the volunteers, as their advice is seriously sought. Here is what some of the members and helpers say about what CARESCO means to them:- FLO:- (Printshop Helper; Voluntary Driver for Day Centre; Fund-raiser.) I'd been forty years in my old home and Sawtry was all new. I was worried about moving to a strange place; my nerves were bad and I was right off food. I came here a lot. It was a feeling of belonging - that somebody understood. Sue said "Don't ever be frightened or worried. Just pick up the phone." It's good to feel that you're wanted. You make friends and support one another; there's the dancing and lots of outings. My husband and I used to come on alternate days for the driving. (It gave us a break from each other!) But now he can no longer drive, he's worried because he needs to be needed. I knit toys and sell them; then when I've made enough money I give it for something - like the hoist at the pool or the new cooker or chairs. If someone moves in you say "Go to CARESCO. They'll give you a Welcome Pack." It's village life without being too cut off. But you get out of it what you put in. I've been a bit of a nuisance at times, but it's like a family - you can always turn to someone. - 1 - CARESCO History - Conclusion JOY (FOSTER) When I moved from Wiltshire I missed being involved with other people. I saw the sign for CARESCO when I was walking the dog and discovered the Nearly New, so I offered to help on a Tuesday evening. I'd only been two or three times when people began to speak to me going up the road. You need to get involved with the place you're in - then you soon make friends. After my husband died I'd had so much help without even asking that I offered to help with the Lunch Club. I really enjoyed watching people's self-esteem grow. They've all got their own jobs. Some of the gentlemen learned to make a sponge which they'd NEVER done before. It made the day worth getting up for. Everybody's helping everyone else without even realising they're doing it. It's one big caring family; I think each bit needs the other. They all need the family, the "cousins" if you like. KATH ALLPORT:- (Organiser of the Sawtry Day Centre since 1983; Committee Member for Sawtry Summer Playscheme; Volunteer family Support worker for SPAN.) The interview was a bit awe-inspiring. There were a lot of people around the table! I'd always worked with children before I went first to the Day Centre as a volunteer, but I had super support from Ken Wilson and Nancy Kelly when I started the job. I didn't know what I was capable of - but you grow with it. We had training meetings with Ken Wilson monthly. That gives you confidence:- you don't have to know everything but if you get an insight you know where to go for the information you need. Then there was the Open University Course with Muriel Humphrey. That was great. We did it as a group. On our own we wouldn't have had the staying power. We learned about other people's ways of doing things, even within our own group. We had a Muslim woman from Age Concern Peterborough, (who later opened her own old people's home.) It opened it up to us. So much information comes from the Day Centre members - if they're worried about something, you learn from their conversation among themselves. There were negative vibes about the Special Playscheme at first, but I knew we had to start it, and some independence from the main scheme was the only way. Nobody should be excluded. Now it's all one scheme. HARRY MILFORD:- (Former Caretaker of the Junior School next door to the Homecraft Centre. Parish Councillor representative on CARESCO Committee.) I knew most folks and used to stop and chat as I walked my dogs, but I never dreamed I'd be a member of both Lunch Club and Day Centre! You get a lovely meal and they're a lovely crowd of people. I've learnt a lot. I've a great respect for old folks. I respect them for what they've done in the past for Sawtry. Some of them have been through a lot. Youngsters don't realise that. They see an old person - not a bloke who went through the Jap Prisoner of War Camps. Grace drives in from Gidding, agile and active in her mind at 93 years old. She's 33 years my elder - so she makes me feel a youngster! Now we're across the Fen I've learnt dominoes from some very good masters, and I'm beginning to win! Now we're trying to get the ladies in with us - but it's a slow process. - 2 - CARESCO History - Conclusion NANCY KELLY - (Meals on Wheels since 1972; volunteer at the Day Centre when it started, before CARESCO was involved; unofficial Deputy when needed; also helps at the Lunch Club.) It means as much to me as it does to the members. I'm not the sort just to sit at home. I enjoy getting down to a bit of cooking, not just for myself, but for 14-16 people. ...The whole thing is a bit of a family atmosphere as much as anything. It's nice if you're not well or if you disappear. You know that somebody's knocking on your door to see if you're all right! ELIZABETH COATES - (Deputy Organiser for Sawtry Day Centre for 2 years; left when Emma was born; persuaded by CARESCO to stand as Voluntary Representative for Huntingdon Community Health Council, just starting her second 4-year term.) Emma (aged 9 months) came with me to the Community Health Council interview! As I was the youngest member I was put on the C.H.C. Maternity Services' Liaison and the Child Accident Prevention Committees. It's very interesting. I'm only just beginning to understand it all (after 5 years!) I suppose we have some influence on planning services, but it's a hard struggle. The Health Authority like to think they are listening, but they tend to have made up their mind before they ask the question. All these changes make it hard for them. JANET GIBSON:- (Committee Member; longstanding helper at Nearly New.) There wasn't a Coffee Shop in the village where mums could meet after they had left the school gate and didn't feel they wanted to go home. We tried various things - a Toy Party, a Book Session, a Cookery Demonstration, but the most popular was a Swop Shop for Children's clothes, and that developed into Nearly New. It was a gateway - people would come in at the wrong door and so discover the Nearly New and the CAB Information Pack. I tell lots of people about that and they're most grateful not to have to go all the way into Huntingdon to find something out. A new building? I hope it won't change the informality and family atmosphere. It will be nice to be all together... and nice to know that when it rains you don't have to choose where you sit, and that the door will open every week! What does CARESCO mean? Well, it's just part of my life..... GAYNOR FOLEY:- (Helper at the Alconbury Day Centre and their representative on CARESCO Management Committee; member of various Task Groups on planning services for children with disabilities.) When I came to Alconbury, I didn't know anyone, then someone asked me to come and help at the Day Centre. It took me two months to find myself something to do - I helped with transport and did lots of washing up! After six months I felt I really belonged. People who manage volunteers need to be aware that the volunteers need looking after as well as the clients! At the AGM I was asked to serve on the Management Committee. After a year I started to feel more comfortable. I went to meetings of Hunts Forum and was asked to go on various Committees concerning Families and Children with disabilities. The first couple of times you said nothing, and then you started to talk. The members of the Committees were people who were looking after my daughter. One had done E's school medicals and I was frightened of the woman. I used to hate the medicals. But when I was on the Committee with her I - 3 - CARESCO History - Conclusion thought "Well, I've got to say something." It helped me to be able to cope with people, because you do have to cope with people and say "This is what my daughter needs." If you've got the confidence to do that you find out what services are available. You have to give as well as take, though. I've been working in the Pre- School and helping at the Junior School. If I hadn't started helping at the Day Centre I just wouldn't have gone in that direction. My husband has been involved in different things, and I don't think he would have been if I hadn't started. The Special Playscheme was a boon to me. I could take E and leave her, even over lunch. She made a very good friend. She doesn't make friends easily and it was a great source of comfort for her to be able to ring up and visit. Of course as they've grown older they've grown apart. E has gone to a mainstream school. Integration hadn't gone as far then as it has now. I've been able to tell other people about Special Playscheme. MARJORIE DYBECK:- (First Organiser, then Hon. Secretary. Now historian.) ...the companionship of kindred spirits working together to improve life in very simple ways... the knowledge that they supported me when I was going through a hard time personally....the joy of seeing my colleagues stand tall as they give public presentations of the work they do in their various projects...the exilaration of discovering the relevance of dry government documents to our own local situation.... and the discovery, while writing this book, of the extent to which what we had achieved was pioneering work. The Griffiths Report "Community Care - an Agenda for Action" aimed " to provide structure and resources to support the initiatives, the innovation and the commitment at local level and to allow them to flourish; to encourage the success stories in one area to become the commonplace of achievement everywhere else." CARESCO is a success story, and this account of its growth has tried to show what circumstances contributed to that success. Residents in a rural community, which does not qualify for special Development funding or a Dedicated Development Worker, have been empowered by support from County and Health Authorities and groups of other Voluntary organisations to make the best use of the local grapevine and the Parish Pump. They have become responsive to the needs of their neighbours and developed the confidence to devise innovative and low-key ways of meeting those needs. Fundamental changes have taken place in the structure of society and the way its citizens are educated during the fifteen years of CARESCO's life, but the value added by the central core of CARESCO to the work done by its linked projects has ensured that the organisation retains the vision to look creatively to the future. Perhaps the disappointment over Lottery Funding for a permanent Centre on the Campus of Sawtry Community College will be turned to good effect, like the earlier disappointment over the funding for a "Sawtry Welfare Co-ordinator." To Manage the Unknown, there is "need for creative thinking at every level of organization." Any solutions will come, as always, from the rich resource of skills, enthusiasm and dedication which have always been found in the community. - 4 -