An Edinburgh charity that has provided vital care for the city’s elderly community for over 80s years has launched an appeal to deliver support to those in need.
Established in 1941, LifeCare offers a range of support services for people living with dementia, those with mobility issues and poor mental health and people experiencing isolation and loneliness.
Helping approximately 1,000 Edinburgh residents a year, the charity works both at people’s homes and hosts day clubs at the Stockbridge and Portobello hubs where elderly people where they can get a hot meal, enjoy a warm space and socialise with others.
But as the winter approaches, older people are faced with difficult choices, making it harder to keep well and warm at home and trickier to safely get out and about.
The Edinburgh charity is now calling on local people and businesses to get involved and help raise funds to support LifeCare and those struggling this winter.
Established in 1941, LifeCare offers a range of support services for people living with dementia, those with mobility issues and poor mental health and people experiencing isolation and loneliness.
Helping approximately 1,000 Edinburgh residents a year, the charity works both at people’s homes and hosts day clubs at the Stockbridge and Portobello hubs where elderly people where they can get a hot meal, enjoy a warm space and socialise with others.
But as the winter approaches, older people are faced with difficult choices, making it harder to keep well and warm at home and trickier to safely get out and about.
The Edinburgh charity is now calling on local people and businesses to get involved and help raise funds to support LifeCare and those struggling this winter.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Singing]
00:05 For the last 80 years an Edinburgh charity has been supporting the elderly community
00:10 with a mission to ensure every older person receives the best possible care, companionship
00:16 and advice to live well and independently in their homes for longer.
00:20 Situated in the heart of Stockbridge, Life Care was founded in 1941
00:25 and here at their community hub the charity offers a range of daily clubs to support people living with dementia,
00:31 those with mobility issues and poor mental health and people experiencing isolation and loneliness.
00:37 Helping approximately 1,000 Edinburgh residents a year, the charity delivers a range of services
00:44 offering help both at people's homes and at the community hub where elderly people can get a hot meal,
00:50 enjoy a warm space and socialise with others.
00:53 But as the days and nights become darker and colder, Life Care is launching its Winter Warmer appeal
00:59 asking local people and businesses to support them to help vulnerable people through a difficult winter.
01:05 The cost of running our hub here and delivering all our services across Edinburgh
01:12 this budget year is about £1.5 million, so a considerable cost
01:18 but a huge, huge delivery of services for that money.
01:22 One of the things that makes Life Care so special is that our staff have worked with us for many years,
01:27 they've developed long-standing relationships with the people they support
01:30 so it was really important to us that we made sure that our staff could afford to continue to work for Life Care
01:35 and that of course has also increased our costs at a time when lots of our grants are at standstill
01:41 so the amount of money that we're getting in for some of our grants to deliver services
01:45 haven't necessarily increased in line with the costs.
01:48 Life Care's got quite a number of services. Two of the units are for people that are living with dementia
01:54 and one of them is for people who are frail and older and need a wee bit of assistance to get out and about.
02:00 We also have our home services, so we have our outreach service which is a one-to-one service
02:06 either in somebody's home or taking them out to still access their community
02:10 and our other at-home services are the help at-home service
02:14 where we actually do the shop ironing, the cleaning, change sheets, anything to do with domestic work
02:22 and we'll go in and do it.
02:24 There are many ways you can support the Winter Warmer appeal,
02:27 with the funds helping Life Care to continue to deliver their vital support services
02:32 which also includes a meal delivery service to Edinburgh residents
02:36 and a newly introduced dementia-friendly hairdressing service.
02:40 Our cafe is open Monday to Friday 9am-3pm, so coming in and using our cafe is one of the ways we help to
02:45 generate income as an organisation, it helps to underpin our services.
02:49 Over the next few months at Life Care we've got a range of Winter Warmer activities
02:53 starting with a Christmas fair, we've got Christmas lunches,
02:56 into the new year we will have other events, so attending some of our events,
03:01 spending money when you're here, also donating to Life Care so people can donate via QR codes,
03:06 we can donate on our website, so donating a little bit of cash helps,
03:11 so if people can deliver a little bit, we're encouraging people to pay it forward on our cafe,
03:16 so if you come in and buy a coffee, buy a coffee for somebody else
03:19 and that helps support the running of some of our services.
03:22 From the point of view of local businesses, we work really closely with corporate sponsors
03:26 and corporate partnerships and we're always looking for new corporate businesses
03:30 to come and join us and support the work of Life Care.
03:32 It's good for their staff to be doing something worthwhile, but it also means that they can help fundraise for Life Care.
03:38 But also lots of local businesses have already been generous and we hope will continue to be generous
03:43 in donating things like raffle prizes, gifts for some of the older people that we support over Christmas,
03:49 things for our trombolas and lots of the other fundraising events.
03:53 So it really is a multitude of ways you can support us.
03:56 Come in, use our centre, donate to us via the website, give us prizes for raffles and trombolas
04:01 and if you're a corporate business, think about making Life Care your charity of the year.
04:05 I lived alone for years after my husband died, but now my daughter is staying with me and it's good to have somebody.
04:13 It's her that got me here. I like it. I like it because, you know, I just like it.
04:23 I've been around the company and everything, been around other people, actually just myself.
04:29 So my daughter comes to stay with me and she's got me here. It makes a difference.
04:37 It's a social thing. Social work. And because we're not going to, it's like coming to a club,
04:46 but we've all got maybe a wee bit of a problem with memories or things like that.
04:50 I don't know about everybody's private history, but we're all older and maybe I've got problems with stuff like that.
04:57 And we'll remember things, you know, from when we were younger.
05:02 The staff are great. Very good. Very sociable and they involve us. They get everybody involved.
05:11 They look out for everybody, really, I think. Yes, they're very good.
05:16 Living with dementia is not easy. The burden of care rests heavily on the carer.
05:22 Watching your husband, wife, mother, father or friend drift away from you,
05:28 maybe even forgetting who you are, is a heart-wrenching experience.
05:33 Funding is critical to help and support carers and also charities like Life Care
05:39 who do such wonderful work for the elderly at their clubs here and out in the community.
05:45 However, there's another side to dementia which involves laughter, saying and having fun.
05:52 Our clients' dementia is advanced, but they can still socialise and for some,
05:57 it's the only chance they get to meet with others.
06:01 We have games and quizzes designed to keep memories alive.
06:05 And laughter is an important factor too. And singing. They love to sing.
06:11 Music is a wonderful thing. It can trigger memories and evoke moods and lift the spirit.
06:18 St Bernard's is a joyful place to work and I wouldn't be there if it wasn't. Thank you.
06:25 [Applause]
06:29 We feel we're doing a good job. We can see that we're of benefit to the clients and the carers
06:35 and we can actually see the difference we make to the person that comes in,
06:39 you know, really stressed, especially the carers, or really socially isolated.
06:44 And then after a few weeks, you can see them start to come out of themselves.
06:49 You can actually, you know, when we do the six-month review, you can actually see a difference
06:52 in the carer stress and in the client's interaction with everybody that's attending the club.
06:58 For more information on how you can support Life Care and help with the Winter Warmer appeal,
07:03 you can visit their website at www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk.
07:10 Alternatively, you can visit the Life Care Community Hub and Café in Stockbridge,
07:15 open Monday to Friday between 9 and 5.
07:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]