Dear

Autumn often feels like a time for new chapters, perhaps because of our childhood memories of starting a new school year. So it feels a fitting time to announce my official handing over of the baton to Sinéad Crosbie, our new CEO.

We're delighted to welcome Sinéad - you can get to know more about her in the short introductory video via the button below.

We have a lot coming up over the next few months, as well as some heartwarming stories of some of the joy our projects have brought to the people we support - read on to see the following news highlights:

• Celebrating 10 years of Embracing Age!
• New - Embracing Age in West Sussex
• Bringing Floristry to Residents
• Residents' Retail Therapy - a twist on our clothing project
• All Ages Crafting in Hampshire
• World Alzheimer's Month - Carers speak of their challenges
• New - Interactive Hub for Churches
• Celebrating Joy in Ageing
• Upcoming events 
• How you can make a difference

This is the last newsletter that will come from me, as Sinéad steps up and I move into my role as trustee. I'd like to say a personal thank you for all your support over the years - our growth and impact would not be possible without our volunteers and supporters like you!  

Best wishes 

Tina and all the Embracing Age team

This November marks 10 years since Embracing Age began and we're calling on you to help us take what we do to the next level, so that we can bring joy and companionship to even more Residents like Rose over the next decade. 

Rose was one of the first care home residents we met. She longed to visit the beautiful park she could see from her care home window. We matched Rose with a trained volunteer to visit her regularly and take her out in her wheelchair. The joy and wonder on Rose's face when she experienced being in nature again was priceless. You can hear more of Rose’s story in our new video via the button below.

You can make a big difference over the next few months in three key ways:

* Fundraise - whether hosting a small coffee morning, or taking on a sponsored challenge, "every penny" raised will make a vital difference. Contact Sarah today to get our new fundraising pack.

* Donate - we'll be launching a birthday campaign, aiming to raise an ambitious £10,000. Please visit our website in November (or email Sarah now to receive a reminder) and donate if you can.

* Spread the word - when you tell your friends and network about us, you're helping grow our reach through potential volunteers and other supporters, and raising awareness of the needs of older care home residents. Who do you know who would be great to get involved in Embracing Age today?

If you'd like to know more about our anniversary plans and how you can support the next stage of our mission, please contact Sarah Waller on sarah@embracingage.org.uk.

We're delighted to introduce our two new area co-ordinators, Julie and Jane, who will be working together to pioneer Embracing Age in West Sussex.

They are actively reaching out to local communities and churches to help bring joy and companionship to isolated care home residents across West Sussex, by becoming a trained volunteer befriender or through other initiatives they hope to develop, such as handmade cards and gifts.

If you're based in West Sussex, please do help spread the word so they can get connected with possible volunteers and establish links with care homes, churches and community groups. If you'd like to get involved directly, they'd love to hear from you! 

You can find out more about Julie and Jane via the West Sussex button below.

Rebecca and her team on the Isle of Wight have had the pleasure of enhancing the Flower Bouquet Blessing Project by getting the care home residents involved in making the bouquets.

The project was started independently by Rebecca in 2019 by arranging flowers from her garden, friends' gardens, and donated by the local Tesco and delivering them to local care homes weekly. Rebecca brought the project with her when she joined Embracing Age and has grown it significantly to bless hundreds of individual residents, thanks to funding from local charity, Wight Aid, and her team of volunteer flower arrangers.

Rebecca says, "going into the care homes to do the floristry with residents has had a very positive impact on those residents' wellbeing. Allowing them to use their creativity, many of them had never done anything like it before and were apprehensive at first but very happy with the end result of their creation. Cutting and placing of the flowers and foliage was also good for their hand flexibility. The joy the flowers brought was a picture on their faces and bringing nature into the care home was very relaxing for residents."

If you'd like get involved in any of our Isle of Wight projects, please visit the button below to find out more.

A care home in Twickenham has given our Emergency Clothing Packs project a fantastic twist to bring a normal "outside experience" to their residents.

Over the last three years, our clothing volunteer, Mary, has been busy sorting donated clothes and delivering packs for new residents admitted at short notice or otherwise in need of clothing.

Recently, one of these care homes had the brilliant idea to set the clothes out on rails in the lounge for residents to browse, feel and choose for themselves, and the photos of the residents' enjoyment are a delight to see. 

A care home manager said, "I appreciate the support and effort of the team at Embracing Age in maintaining the quality of life for those residents who are really in need. The clothes package for one of our service users was an excellent contribution towards his personal care and presentation. He is very happy and grateful to your organisation for this kind gesture."

So far, Mary has delivered over 3,200 items of clothing! She would love more volunteers to help her sort and deliver the clothes, so if you're in the Richmond upon Thames area and would like to get involved, please contact mary@embracingage.org.uk.

We are also really keen for support with our other projects in Richmond, including:

* donations of new or unused toiletries for our Blessing Bag project - please shop our Amazon Wishlist here, or contact janet@embracingage.org.uk

* making, writing and delivering Cards of Kindness - please contact sandy@embracingage.org.uk

* high need for befriending volunteers for a care home in Hampton - please contact shabnum@embracingage.org.uk

For more information on how you can get involved in Richmond, please visit the button below.

Our Cards of Kindness project in Hampshire has had a real boost with wonderful support from local schools, who have set up lunchtime card making clubs and encouraged pupils to make cards at home during the holidays. Libraries have also been promoting our birthday cards initiative by encouraging children visiting the library over the summer break to colour in a birthday card for a care home resident without family or friends. We have also had fantastic designs from adults completely new to crafting, as well as experienced crafters, artists and photographers, including by upcycling old greetings cards donated to us for repurposing. 

Huge thanks to each person who has made, written or delivered a card, they really do make such a difference to the receiving residents, with care home managers telling us "Our residents love the cards you make - they make them very special and happy. Thank you very much for your support."

We would love to increase the number of regular cards sent monthly to individual residents and welcome your help in a range of ways: donating old greetings cards, making cards, collecting cards handed in at libraries, writing cards or delivering cards to a care home local to you. 

Looking ahead (dare I say it!) to Christmas, plans are already underway to make sure we can support as many care home residents as possible who will not receive gifts from family or friends or may feel particularly isolated over the Christmas season. To enable this, we would love to hear from anyone who could help with our Christmas gift project, especially: crafters to make a handmade gift for a resident, handmade cards, donating a small item (for example toiletries, puzzle books, etc.) and delivering the gifts to care homes.

If you could help with any of these initiatives, or are interested in becoming a trained volunteer befriender, please do get in touch with our Hampshire team so that we can enable more care home residents to enjoy a regular sense of community connection.  

September is International World Alzheimer’s month, which aims to raise awareness of the disease.

Some of the carers who come regularly to Carers Connected have talked to us about the biggest challenges they face due to their loved ones' dementia. Communication, and the inability of their loved one to express themself, can be a significant frustration with the carer having to play a guessing game with regard to their needs.

Stella said her husband is ‘constantly frustrated trying to articulate and life becomes a guessing game’. Jo echoed this saying that her husband is ‘unable to express himself and understanding what he’s trying to say is almost impossible’.  Heather talked about the necessity to maintain the same routine day in day out for her mother-in-law or risk challenging behaviour, particularly in the evenings. ‘Keeping to a rigid routine for her sake means virtually no quality time for ourselves or our marriage.’ Poignantly, Shan, who cares for her husband, believes that ‘missing the person he was is my greatest challenge’.

Amidst the multitude of challenges these carers face, they value the opportunity that Carers Connected provides to chat with others who understand the difficulties and to know that they’re not alone. Heather says, ‘we find people who totally understand what we are up against and can pray for us but also support by making very valid suggestions to overcome challenges.’  Stella described Carers Connected as ‘a lifeline as we can download and share in a safe Christian environment with like-minded carers and facilitators’. 

If you are interested in knowing more about Carers Connected or becoming a volunteer host, please visit our website or contact Sarah Smith on 07964 895477 or sarahsmith@embracingage.org.uk.

We're thrilled to have launched a Hub for Churches and individuals interested in ministry amongst older people.

You can join the conversation via the button below or contact paul@embracingage.org.uk to find out how we can help equip your church in its ministry amongst older people. 

We invited people aged 50 upwards to unleash their creativity and capture the essence of ageing in its most joyful forms in our Joy in Ageing multimedia competition earlier this year. What a treasure trove of responses we received! Our poetry judges Pam Rhodes, Dave Bilbrough and Andrew Pratt chose two joint winners, along with three highly commended judge's choices.

Some of the themes that emerged were the joy that nature brings, the joy of having time to spend pursuing leisure activities, or spending time with grandchildren. These themes are reflected in the pieces chosen by our art and multimedia judges. 

​You can enjoy the winning poetry, art and multimedia entries, judges' thoughts and read more about the winners on our website via the button below.

You can also pre-order a copy of the anthology, which will be released on 1 October to celebrate Older People's Day - all proceeds raised will support our work building a world where older people are valued, connected and full of hope. The book is £8.75 but we're offering our newsletter readers a special 20% discount - simply enter SUPPORTER20 at checkout. For people who were shortlisted, please look out for a separate email from me with a different discount code.

We'll be at the following events and would love to see you there.

Twickenham - Full of Life Fair, Friday 27 September, 10-4pm. A day for people aged 55+ and their carers to discover local information and resources to live well. More info and free registration here.

The Wirral - Coming Alongside ​People Living with Dementia, Saturday 12 October, 9:50-12:15. A free conference for people and churches exploring how to come alongside people living with dementia in our churches, communities and care homes so they feel seen and supported. Find out more and book your free ticket here.

Isle of Wight - Quiz Night, Thursday 17 October, 7pm - join us for this fun and competitive evening at All Saints Hall in Ryde whilst helping raising vital funds. You can come as a team (up to 6 people) or join a team on the night. For more info and to book, contact Barbara on 07948376936 or barbara@embracingage.org.uk.

Twickenham - Classical concert - plans are underway for our annual winter fundraising concert so watch out for the details on our website and social media soon. If you'd like to receive an update when booking opens, please email sarah@embracingage.org.uk to ask Sarah to send you the booking link.

Are you thinking about starting something new this autumn?

There are so many ways you can have fun getting involved with us and make a big difference in the lives of older people at the same time.

• Do you enjoy community fundraising? 
• Could you host Carers Connected Zoom sessions?
• Could you spare 1 hour a week to visit care home residents? 
• Could you use your craft skills to knit or crochet items for residents, or to make handmade cards? Or help deliver cards to a care home near you? 

You can find full details of these and many more opportunities via the button below.

Many of these roles can be done from wherever you are in the country.

*Names may have been changed for anonymity

You can enjoy more photos and stories of what Embracing Age is up to via our website and social media icons below

Thank you for your support, we're really grateful that you're part of our vision.

Tina and all the team at Embracing Age