ERTC Pilot project

Project Aims
The Silver Day Care Services will seek to reduced isolation among elderly people who are sixty years and over in Barking and Dagenham who live at home. This project will also help to reduce inequality in service provision for elderly people in the Borough.

Project Description
We plan to pilot the project in the Gascoigne Ward of the Borough for about six months starting in the autumn of 2010. The Gascoigne estate is a vast mix of communities from different part of Asia, Europe and Africa and the Caribbean.

The Pilot will be limited to between 15 and 20 people. A group of volunteers from the Gascoigne community have already been working with us to set up the machinery of this project. They will be facilitated by a paid qualified Care Manager. All Volunteers and workers will be police-checked

Project Objectives
We would like to pilot three different activities:
a. Day Care Service

The activities of the Day Centre will be weekly and would clearly demonstrate the cultural diversity of the community.
They will participate in range of activities/projects of their choice including:
Arts, dance and drama ( we are already in conversation with a local arts company )
Games, outing videos
Presentations and trips

b. An Escort Service: examples include:
Volunteers will organise escort teams to accompany participants to places such as:

c. A Befriending Service
Because of the number of elderly people living alone in this ward the volunteers thought it will be necessary to set up a team of to pay courtesy calls visit participants just for a quick chat or a social visit.

Project Outcome
It is hoped that this project will;
a. Reduce Isolation
b. Improve health
c. Improve community cohesion

An end of project evaluation will inform Management’s decision of how to progress.