St John Ambulance centres helping fill care gap

Posted by The Journal on Oct 15, 09 09:25 AM in News

A charity which operates three day centres for elderly and disabled people says it can help fill a gap in traditional care provision caused by the likely closure of seven council-run centres in Northumberland.

Officials of St John Ambulance Northumbria say their popular centres in Berwick, Ashington and Shiremoor are branching out into new activities and welcoming more clients as local state-provided services are reduced.

St John Ambulance Day Care worker Jennifer Rushton chats to Betty Greaves, left, and Louie Middlemiss

St John Ambulance Day Care worker Jennifer Rushton chats to Betty Greaves, left, and Louie Middlemiss

The three centres are responding to Government changes in adult social care, which include giving elderly and disabled people their own personal budgets which they can spend as they choose on getting out of the house and taking part in activities.

The Putting People First reforms have led Northumberland County Council to propose closing its day care centres in Amble, Bedlington, Blyth, Prudhoe, Haltwhistle, Hexham and Ponteland - and giving the 300 users personal budgets.

The plan, which involves the council getting out of directly providing day care, has sparked angry protests that it will deny elderly people vital social interaction and companionship.

A final decision will be taken early next month, but St John Ambulance Northumbria says its three centres facilities are ready and willing to help cope with the demise of council-run facilities.

They are available to elderly people who want to use their personal budgets to continue meeting people of their own age and taking part in traditional, building-based activities.

Yesterday Diane Moralee, manager of the Shiremoor centre, said: "Our centres are somewhere for people who live alone to come and have the social contact that is so important for all of us.

"Many of the adults who come here have difficulty getting out and about, and without the day centre they might not see anyone from one week to the next. The centre is often described as a lifeline."

The centre has recently entertained local sheltered housing residents to tea and wine and cheese afternoons, and grant funding has been used to pay for hand massage sessions and a trip to a spa for its own elderly clients.

The Ashington centre has already seen changes, with elderly people paying for its services themselves instead of being funded by social services.

Manager Sharon Scott said: "As people become responsible for their own personal budgets we want them to know that there is a lot going on here that would benefit them."

The centre is running a new shopping scheme, taking elderly clients to and from their homes, and has taken on an allotment with raised beds and a poly tunnel where clients can plant and grow their own vegetables, then take them home to eat.

At the Berwick centre the range of activities is also expanding to include art therapy, crafts and model making, together with more trips out and about.

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