Helping older people in Gloucestershire feel more independent, secure, and have a better quality of life May 2014 Gloucestershire Village & Community Agents Managed by GRCC Jointly funded by Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group www.villageagents.org.uk Helping older people in Gloucestershire feel more independent, secure, and have a better quality of life Gloucestershire Village & Community Agents Managed by GRCC Jointly funded by Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Gloucestershire Village and Key objectives: To give older people easy Community Agents is aimed 3 access to a wide range of primarily at the over 50s but also To help older people in information that will enable them offers assistance to vulnerable 1 Gloucestershire feel more to make informed choices about people in the county. independent, secure, cared for, their present and future needs. and have a better quality of life. The agents provide information To engage older people to To promote local services and support to help people stay 4 enable them to influence and groups, enabling the independent, expand their social 2 future planning and provision. Agent to provide a client with a activities, gain access to a wide community-based solution To provide support to range of services and keep where appropriate. people over the age of 18 involved with their local 5 who are affected by cancer. communities. Partner agencies ² Gloucestershire County Council’s Adult Social Care Helpdesk ² Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group ² Gloucestershire Rural Community Council ² Age UK Gloucestershire ² Carers Gloucestershire ² Healthwatch Gloucestershire ² District Councils ² Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue ² Department for Work and Pensions ² Severn Wye Energy Agency ² Gloucestershire Constabulary ² Mears Safe at Home ² Fair Shares ² Citizens Advice Bureau ² Community Transport 2 www.villageagents.org.uk May 2014 Cheltenham Agents See page 15 Tewkesbury Agents See page 9 Gloucester Agents See page 14 Forest of Dean Agents Cotswold Agents See page 7 See page 11 Stroud Agents See page 13 Community Agents For more information call 01452 528491 See page 4 or go to www.villageagents.org.uk www.villageagents.org.uk 3 Helping older people in Gloucestershire feel more independent, secure, and have a better quality of life Gloucestershire Village & Community Agents Managed by GRCC Jointly funded by Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Case Study A Village Agent visited a client who needed support in completing an application for housing benefit and council tax. BME Community Agents Although the client was offered The Community Agents work There are Agents for the help by Cotswold District with the Black, Minority Ethnic following communities: Council in completing the and Migrant communities across ² African Caribbean application, he preferred to Gloucestershire. Community use the services of the Village ² Agent as he had a relationship Working mainly with the over Bengali Community with the Agent, built up over 50s, the Agents provide ² Chinese Community the years, with whom he felt information and support to assist ² Gujarati Community comfortable and safe in people in finding the services disclosing personal/financial they need to maintain and ² Migrant Community matters. promote their independence. The Village Agent had also in the past secured pension Case Study credit for the client. G My client was 65 years old and had a hospital appointment Many older people are often coming up. My client spoke little English and no interpreter had intimidated by bureaucracy been arranged for the appointment. I supported my client with and therefore often fail to take arrangements for sourcing and arranging an interpreter. My client advantage of benefits that are was not aware that this service could be arranged by the NHS so available to them. However, always paid her friend to accompany her to important the presence of the Village appointments. Agent allows them to bypass G Mr K has dementia and Mrs K needs to think about support so the bureaucracy, thus ensuring that she can cope. I have given her details of various care and that the older person gets all sitting agencies. They also need smoke alarms so I have the help they are entitled to. arranged that for them as well. 4 www.villageagents.org.uk May 2014 Tewkesbury District Cheltenham Gloucester Cotswold District Forest of Dean District Stroud District Community Agents Bengali Gujarati African Community Community Caribbean Community Farhana Begum Kausar Parekh Tel: 07810 056770 Tel: 07799 255793 Venet Poyser Tel: 07799 628217 Migrant Migrant Community Community (Polish speaker) (Polish speaker) Marzena Trojanowksa Irena Rasiewicz Tel: 07785 363842 Tel: 07841 342910 www.villageagents.org.uk 5 Helping older people in Gloucestershire feel more independent, secure, and have a better quality of life Case Study Gloucestershire I was contacted by an Oncology nurse to see a young Village & Community couple in Churchdown and the husband has cancer of the Agents brain. He used to work in HR and his wife is a trained Managed by GRCC nurse. Jointly funded by Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group They both must be in their 30s and have one young daughter at the local school and a son who was a year old Specialist Cancer in December. They live in a maisonette now as they were Agents living in a house and the husband had to keep going up and down the stairs to the bathroom which he found really Being diagnosed with cancer has difficult. a huge impact on every area of life. It is sometimes difficult to They do not have any family living closely and rely on know where to turn for help with friends, but there is only so much you can ask of friends as issues beyond the medical they also have their lives to lead and are not always diagnosis and treatment. available when you need them. Several of the Village and They said they were having problems with transport to Community Agents have received hospital for his chemo etc, as the new rules since Aviva additional training to work with have taken over is that only one member of the family can people over the age of 18 who are accompany the patient and so that would mean leaving the affected by cancer. This can be one year old in the house on his own. the patient or their families and carers. I contacted the main office in Bristol, spoke to a lovely man who has very kindly arranged that when my client goes to The Specialist Cancer Agents future hospital appointments he can have his wife with him have a wealth of knowledge about as now he finds that he does not take in/understand all that the information and support that he is being told, due to his condition. is available to people affected by cancer. They can help by putting I am struggling to find them practical help with shopping, their clients in contact with a wide housework or staying with the husband when his wife goes range of information, support, out shopping or to pick up their daughter from school. His practical and financial help. wife did say that she was feeling very tired looking after her husband and the children with no regular break for her. His wife cannot return to nursing as she cannot leave the children with him for long periods in case he is poorly, he will not be returning to work at all. I have tried all the local agencies and now I am waiting for them to come back to me. 6 www.villageagents.org.uk May 2014 Forest of Dean Agents Sallyanne Batchelor Liz Price Tel: 07810 630212 Tel: 07810 630224 Bromsberrow Corse Dymock Gorsley & Kilcot Kempley Hartpury Newent (inc Cliffords Mesne) Newent Oxenhall Pauntley Redmarley D’Abitot Jane Lloyd Staunton (Corse) Tel: 07810 630264 Upleadon Coleford English Bicknor Lydbrook Newland Staunton (Coleford) Hilary Lyon Tel: 07810 630254 Churcham Huntley Newent Rudford & Highleadon Taynton Tibberton Helen Roberts Mike Morgan Tel: 07810 630004 Tel: 07776 245712 Awre & Blakeney Coleford Blaisdon Cinderford Drybrook Lydney Littledean Ruspidge Longhope West Dean (inc Bream, Mitcheldean Broadwell, Pillowell & Newnham on Severn Yorkley) Ruardean Westbury on Severn “Village Agents are a Richard Skinner smashing group of Tel: 07810 630190 people to work with. We Alvington come from a wide variety Aylburton of backgrounds, but I find Hewelsfield & Brockweir all my colleagues St Briavels Tidenham supportive and quick to Woolaston provide information, advice & support.” Forest of Dean Village Agent www.villageagents.org.uk 7 Helping older people in Gloucestershire feel more independent, secure, and have a better quality of life Gloucestershire Village & Community Agents Managed by GRCC Jointly funded by Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Case Study A Village Agent supported a client who had ordered a pair of boots on line, paid for them in advance and they had not arrived. The client had previously “I have been working with a to deliver the spare parts to the telephoned the mail order client who had, through ill doctor’s surgery the following company who said they had health, become virtually day. Her ‘Blue Badge’ had been despatched. However, housebound and socially expired, so I contacted the nothing materialised and client isolated. With Village Agent correct department and they was very distressed about this support, she now attends two sent out a new application form. and didn’t know where to turn. luncheon clubs where she has made new friends. It also “She will be having a rail fitted The agent was able to ring the became apparent that there to help her get out of bed, and mail order company, in the were other issues. I have now also for safety, alongside the client’s presence and with her arranged a benefits check and I steps into the house. She had permission, and was able to have helped her obtain a form been a very keen gardener establish that the boots had for receiving her building society before ill health made it never been despatched and to interest tax-free.