A million quid to help establish services aimed at helping older people stay in their community…

A significant investment, yes, but one that will help older and vulnerable people stay in their homes, in their communities, safely and for longer.

Chance for community groups to play a part in delivering support services

And because the services to support them could be locally delivered it means they would be entirely focussed on that local need… and, yes, of course it’s less expensive than people giving in and ending up in the institutionalised care system when, with some lighter touch support, they need not.

The money made available by Staffordshire Social Care and Health via the new Community Wellbeing Fund will be used to kick start new services or expand existing ones which support independent living and wellbeing.

It could be to start lunch clubs, offer befriending services, undertake home safety audits, local transport provision… in fact anything which contributes to safe, healthy and independent living. And if new services are successful and meet the need as expected they can then move to continued funding via the Department’s joint commissioning unit.

So this is all about expanding the voluntary sector in a managed way whilst providing parish councils and other local groups with an opportunity to further enhance the communities and people they serve.

Initial response has been exceptional with far more expressions of interest and formal funding applications than we could possibly have expected. So if you are involved with a local community group and have ideas about a service which will support older or more vulnerable people live safely in their community you can find out more here.

Click here to comment on this post