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Rushcliffe Activity Friends helps people over 50 to improve their health and wellbeing by being more active with the support of an Activity Friend Volunteer. Activity Friends Volunteers provide information, support and companionship – accompanying people to activities until they feel confident to continue independently.
It is with regret that as funding for the current project will cease at the end in September, we are no longer able to take referrals or to recruit new volunteers.
However, such has been the impact of Activity Friends (please see the summary below) that Rushcliffe CVS are committed to providing a peer mentoring project for older people in Rushcliffe and we are seeking funding or future initiatives.
We would like to thank all those – our volunteers, referral partners and community groups without whom the project could not have been so successful.
Together we have supported older people to improve their health and quality of life - enabling them to participate more fully in their communities by attending local community groups, social and leisure activities and volunteering
If you have any questions and / or comments please contact Lindsay Knott, Development Worker on 0115 9699060 Ext 127 or email
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Rushcliffe Activity Friends Achievements
- Involved volunteers aged between 52 and 79 and clients aged between 51 and 96
- Residents from across the borough - Bingham , Cotgrave, Keyworth, West Bridgford, Willoughby on the Wolds, Radcliffe on Trent, Costock, Ruddington , Gamston , Edwalton, Kinoulton, Plum tree Aslockton
- Activities enjoyed by volunteers and clients - ice skating , seated exercise classes , golf , walking , table tennis , aqua fit, badminton , dancing, swimming , boccia bowls
- Helped people manage and improve a wide range of health conditions and disabilities -arthritis ,diabetes, heart disease , anxiety, dementia , depression , visual and hearing impairments and to recover from falls and medical procedures
- Enabled people to become less socially isolated and more engaged in their communities and provided positive messages about older people and those with health difficulties
- Provided some respite for carers and families - happy that the person the care for was enjoying an activity they may not have done for many years.
- Complemented the services provided by over thirty multi sector organisations and agencies who made referrals - Adult Social Care and Health; General Practitioners; Community Mental Health, Mental Health Intermediate Care and Work Age Dementia teams; Sheltered Accommodation Scheme Managers and Framework Housing Association; Community Outreach Advisor, Age Concern, Action for the Blind, The Employment Service, The Service Tree Personal Care Agency, BAME Carers Support Worker, friends and relatives and by people themselves.
- Increased the attendance at many community , leisure and social activities and groups
In the words of clients:
Thank you so much…volunteer S has turned my life around. The group I have now joined is brilliant…I’ve made lots of friends, go on holidays,
I’ve told the doctor how brilliant it is
I am ever so grateful to Activity Friends It has made such a difference… Even going to the ordinary swimming sessions and using my armbands which I have the confidence to do with volunteer P being with me …Exercise is easier in the water because it is not putting strain on my body and I feel better after it…Activity Friends let me find out what was available and I’m meeting other people as well.’.
And volunteers…
I benefit from being a volunteer because of the realisation that in several ways, we were each able to give something to the other. The fact that it was a 1 to 1 friendship made a big difference.
It is a continuous learning curve and very humbling to see how some people have to cope with everyday life but very rewarding to know that in some small way you may have helped.
And partners ……
One of my clients had lost her husband for whom she had cared for many years. She was matched to a volunteer and regained her confidence by going to activities together. She now has an active social life – Activity Friends was the first step towards this
Activity Friends plays a vital role in supporting people to become a bit more socially and physically active. And a key part of the preventative agenda – preventing isolation, social exclusion and all the long term health and social care costs associated with this.
For more detailed case studies, please go to the following link
We would like to stress our commitment to providing a peer mentoring project and if you have any comments or questions, they would be much appreciated
Please contact Lindsay Knott, Activity Friends Coordinator on 0115 9699060 Ext 127 or
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