Category Archives: Older care

Isolated and lonely older people in Norwich to benefit from charity’s £200,000 lottery windfall

More than £200,000 is to be spent on bringing isolated and lonely older people back into their Norwich communities.

Richard Wheeler Tuesday, July 17, 2012
6.30 AM

 

Age UK Norwich is searching for 60 new befrienders to keep elderly people active – from a walk in the park to a visit to the pub.

The charity has received £200,000 from the Big Lottery Fund to expand its volunteer project during the next three years to meet an ever-increasing demand.

And now it needs helpers to come forward to put it into action.

The first volunteer event will be held tomorrow at its office in Boardman House, Redwell Street, city centre, from 2pm.

Phil Wells, Age UK Norwich chief executive, said the World Health Organisation regarded loneliness as a “bigger killer than smoking”.

The Government’s Social Care White Paper and White Paper and Draft Care and Support Bill

Part Two: Food for Thought

Having finished my rant about the Government’s lack of backbone to adequately fund social care, here are some of the important points that were raised in the Social Care White Paper and Draft Care and Support Bill.

From 2015 the government will introduce national standards on access to care services.  At the moment each council can set its own criteria, creating a so called postal lottery. National standards will help people to understand what they are entitled to.

The ticking time bomb of elderly care costs

There is a postcode lottery in this county on care

Monday, July 16, 2012

The Citizen

OVER the last week, the reality of perhaps this county’s greatest challenge — how are we going to pay for the care of our increasing number of older people – has begun to dawn.

And as I have written before, I regard this challenge as Gloucestershire’s demographic time bomb.

Now, that time bomb really is ticking.

But I am afraid that the government promises when they announced their White Paper on care for the elderly last week seem to be very hollow.