Services

Chorlton Good Neighbours provides a range of services to local older adults. These include home visiting, shopping support, odd jobs, dog walking, wheelchair pushing, small practical jobs and transport to appointments.

• Regular coffee mornings, exercise classes, days out and monthly Sunday meals
• Activities aimed at older men (but not just men!) such as the history group  a snooker afternoon and a gardening club. We also providing support and company for older men through one-to-one visits
• Visiting at home, which as well as general conversation also includes helping with telephone calls, paying bills and small odd jobs.
• Transport to and from events and appointments at hospitals, health centres and GP surgeries.
• Support for wheelchair users to get out and about in Chorlton and go for a coffee,  or out on the meadows or to local parks. As well it can involve practical help such as going to the Bank, post office, hairdressers or to shops or to collect prescriptions.
• Practical support including dog walking, and help with minor repairs, odd jobs, form filling and general advice.
• Information Days – with stalls from the council and other community groups that offer services to older people.
• Monthly hearing aid drop-in clinic (“Hear to Help”) held on the first Thursday of each month, 9.30-11.30am
• Twice monthly nurse clinics at the coffee mornings staffed by one of the local nursing team
  
• General advice and referral to other agencies.
• Regular telephone support to many of our current users.
• Regular newsletters keeping members up to date with forthcoming activities and events plus other useful information. Also up to date information is available on our webpage and Facebook page

The core work of the Care Group, alongside some of the bigger regular activities, is the support given to those in their own homes. We aim to offer friendship and practical help to those older people who live in Chorlton and Whalley Range, either in rented, sheltered flats or their own homes and who can benefit from our support

Over the past year 90 people have received regular visits at some point from volunteers or one of the three paid community workers

Visiting and befriending is about offering kindness and interest, but with some boundaries. When bringing two people together in this way, we consider issues such as proximity to each other, shared interests and backgrounds.

Volunteers and service users nearly always  hit it off, and we have many instances of volunteers sustaining their visits to the same clients over many years

Providing transport for older people by volunteers using their own cars is a very important service. This includes taking older people to coffee mornings, sunday meals and other events. Also providing lifts to hospitals, opticians, health centres and GP’s. This is all carried out by our pool of about 30 drivers, who are paid 40p per mile to cover their expenses. The Group has three Blue Badges which volunteers can use with a disabled older person, and the key element is that someone is escorting them to the appointment, reducing their anxiety and making the long wait more bearable.

Odd jobs include volunteers helping in sorting out bills and filling in forms – both online and on paper. Also  making telephone calls on clients’ behalf, sweeping up leaves, helping with computers,  sewing buttons back on jumpers, finding telephone numbers of tradesmen and a host of other simple but important tasks.

Leo fitting a new lock