Dear

We've certainly got a spring in our step here with so many joyful connections blooming - if you'd like something positive to make your heart sing too, then read on for our spring news:

• Filling Westminster Abbey - our annual update is here!
• Connections blossoming in West Sussex
• Additional language speakers bringing vital links in Richmond
• Crafting for Care Homes in Hampshire
• Making Easter Meaningful on the Isle of Wight
• New life in older people's ministry
• Do you have a recipe with a memory behind it?

Last but not least, you'll find upcoming events and how you can volunteer to make a difference to older care home residents and unpaid carers.

Thank you so much for the difference you're making.

Best wishes 

Sinéad and all the Embracing Age team

Over the last year, our incredible volunteers have brought joy to 2,351 older care home residents through visiting, cards, gifts and more - that's the equivalent of more than filling Westminster Abbey with people shown that they're valued!

You can read more about the difference the Embracing Age community is making in our newly released annual update report via the button below. Please do share the update with anyone you think would be interested in hearing more about what we do.

Huge thanks to everyone who has enabled these stories and projects to take shape, especially our incredible volunteers, our generous supporters and our staff and trustee team.

It's been wonderful seeing our newest area project, West Sussex, blossoming from pioneering stage in late 2024 to now having a really strong volunteer team spread across a wide ranging area of the county, with Jane invited to lots of networking events and other community links to raise our profile here.

We recently received this lovely update from Whyke Lodge care home about the difference two of the befriender volunteers are making to their residents:

"It was great that Georgia and Dave were known to Whyke Lodge prior to them becoming volunteers as this helped them settle in immediately. Dave had placed his mother-in-law at Whyke Lodge a number of years ago. Although we had not seen Dave for years, the staff still remembered him when he attended his first volunteer session. Georgia is the owner of the ice cream company (Pinks) whose van visits the home monthly.

Dave spends time with one lady, one on one. This lady really looks forward to Dave's visits. She only has one very occasional visitor so is quite a lonely lady but she loves to talk. Dave is really great with her and they often just spend the time together drinking tea, eating biscuits, talking and laughing. After Dave's visits, she is always so happy and she spends the rest of the day with a big smile on her face.

Georgia likes to work with a small group of residents. She always plays Bingo with them. Georgia is great at calling out the numbers in the old fashion way which the residents love. There is always plenty of laughter and chat during the game. The residents look forward to this weekly Bingo session.

The residents get such enjoyment out of the volunteers' weekly visits ... and the volunteers seem to really connect with the residents. Thank you for arranging Dave and Georgia's placements with us."

Georgia says, "I’ve gained a greater understanding of what it may be like to live with Dementia. Plus the opportunity to connect with people in my local community who benefit from some company. Volunteering has been a gift, getting to know residents has helped me understand patience and tolerance."

Dave adds "I visit a lady who is 91yrs and has dementia. She generally doesn't have any visitors as there are no family members left. We chat about her early and middle years, as these are still good memories, and it's good to know that she recognises me. It's a most rewarding experience."

Did you know that dementia can affect how well a bilingual person can communicate in the language that's less embedded for them?

In Richmond Borough we are increasingly receiving referral requests for volunteers who speak an additional language to visit residents who have begun only speaking in their mother-tongue, as the impact for these residents in losing the ability to communicate in the language that most people around them speak can be severe. 

One such resident has been supported enormously by her volunteer, Christie, who visits her regularly to chat together in fluent Spanish. The care home said:

"This resident has lost her ability to communicate in English. She now only speaks Spanish. The volunteer's visits mean that the resident has 1 to 1 time where she can express herself fully and enjoy being meaningfully engaged. The volunteer is able to feedback to staff anything we should know. The resident's face lights up when she sees her volunteer who has become her great friend! Christie enriches our resident's life and has become a very welcomed and important part of our team."

Christie adds, "Spending time with her is one of my biggest highlights of the week. She is a ray of sunshine with such a wonderful personality. We typically spend the time nattering and putting the world to rights. When the weather is behaving, we walk in the garden deciding which flowers are our favourites. The care home team always make me feel so welcome and they do such a fantastic job of bringing the outside world into the home."

Do you speak an additional language and could spare an hour a week to chat with a resident in their mother tongue to play a vital role in helping them feel less frustrated and less isolated? Please contact Shabnum to find out more about volunteering in Richmond Borough, or your local area co-ordinator.

One of the joys of spring is experiencing the world awaken with new life pushing through. We’re also seeing that sense of renewal within churches as they respond to the changing “climate” of an ageing population. Over recent months, it’s been incredibly encouraging to feel a real sense of momentum building, with a growing number of churches across the UK reaching out to Embracing Age eager to explore how they can better serve older people in their communities.

At the New Wine Leadership Conference, we had the privilege of connecting with dedicated seniors pastors, parish nurses, and pastoral workers, all united by a deep passion to support and serve older generations.

We're delighted to be speaking at upcoming conferences for the Chester and Bristol Dioceses, where there’s a clear desire to equip churches to walk alongside older people especially through some of the more complex and challenging aspects of later life.

This spring, there’s more than just nature in bloom! There is a new fruitfulness in churches for this vital ministry, which is a real delight to witness.

We're running an exciting new campaign to create a printed recipe book, and we would love you to be involved.

A favourite dish can often bring happy memories flooding back, including for people with degenerative conditions affecting memory or cognition. We want to collect recipes that have special meaning for people, or that have family stories connected to them. The book will be offered for sale to raise funds, and hopefully will share some unique recipes and special stories as widely as possible.

We'd love you to share a favourite recipe and associated story - either from your own family history, or on behalf of a care home resident you visit. 

To take part, please download the recipe form via the button below, complete it and return it to us via the included details as soon as possible. If you're able to type your answers directly into the form, that would be appreciated to help us read and process them, but a handwritten copy is ok if not. The link takes you to our template document so please download your own copy to type into. 

Thank you so much for taking part - we can't wait to read your memorable recipes!

We're always looking for more volunteers to help us reach more older people, so if you're interested in having fun getting involved with us and making a big difference in the lives of older people, read on!

Many of these roles can be done from wherever you are in the country and offer a range of time requirements to fit around what time you can offer:

• Could you spare 1 hour a week to visit care home residents in Richmond, West Sussex, Hampshire or the Isle of Wight? We urgently need adult volunteers to meet referrals for residents in these areas.
• Could you help build links between schools or community groups and their local care home?
• Could you host a Carers Connected Zoom session once a month? 
• Do you enjoy community fundraising? 
• Are you good with IT systems, especially websites and CRM systems, and could offer some back office volunteer support?
• Are you good with writing, social media, graphic design or filming - we would love volunteer support to raise our profile by helping write our newsletters, designing marketing materials, creating regular social media content or capturing new videos to share what we do.

You can find full details of all our opportunities via the button below.

Come and meet us at the following events - we'd love to see you!

CHESTER - Chester Diocese Conference on Older People and Mental Health - 14th May 2026, 10am to 3:45pm at Foxhill House, Frodsham with our Churches Co-ordinator, Paul. More info and book your place here.

TWICKENHAM - Quiz Night - Friday 12th June, 7.30pm, Stephen's Church, Twickenham, TW1 2PD. By popular request, we're excited to be holding a quiz night in Twickenham with Sean Carey, a writer for The Chase, as Quiz Master. This is a free event with a suggested donation of £10 per person, including a snack buffet. Advance booking is essential and we expect places to fill quickly, so secure your ticket now via this link. If you don't have a team (up to 6 people), you'll be welcome to join one on the night. Do encourage your family, friends, colleagues to sign up too - we'd love to see you all there!

TWICKENHAM - St Margaret's Fair - Saturday 11th July, 12-6pm, Moormead Park, Twickenham, TW1 1JS. We're thrilled to have been chosen as one of the fair's chosen charities, providing vital funds to support our work locally. If you're in the area, do come along to chat to us and enjoy all the fun of the fair - it's always a brilliant day out, with so much for all ages and interests! Find out more on their website here.

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.

Sinéad and all the team at Embracing Age