Dear

We hope our uplifting stories below might provide you with something to smile about and perhaps can give you something more interesting than the weather to chat about with those you meet this week: 

• Treasure unlocked by small objects
• Could you help make double the difference to residents? 
• Offering residents purpose can help build wider connection
• Could you send a resident a postcard this summer?
• Welcoming Yvonne on the Isle of Wight
• Carers adaptation of the Lord is my Shepherd
• Challenging churches to think differently about ageing and caring
• Still time to enter - Do you have a recipe with a memory behind it?
• West Sussex vacancy - join our staff team

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

We're excited to be taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge again to raise vital funds to bring meaningful connections to older care home residents. 

From 1 - 8 December, every pound you donate to our campaign page will be doubled by our match-funding supporters, meaning you can help twice as many residents feel valued and connected in the new year.

How you can make a difference:

• Pledge £200 today to our match-funding pot - you'll inspire others to give and help double public donations. Pledge promises must be submitted in August but aren't paid until December - please contact sarah@embracingage.org.uk by 20th August for more info on how to become a match-funding hero.

• Donate if you can, to the public campaign page here from midday 1st until midday 8th December.

• Do a fundraiser anytime from now and donate the proceeds to the public campaign page from midday 1-8 December. You could do anything from a bake sale, wine & cheese evening, coffee morning, games night, sponsored craftathon or simply hold a collection at your church or club etc.

You can also help by spreading the word! Imagine the multiplied impact you can make by encouraging others to support our Christmas Challenge.

Many people assume that because care home residents are living with other people, all their social needs are being met. In practice however, this is simply not the case for a variety of reasons, as shown in this lovely story of the difference one of our Richmond volunteers is making:

"The volunteer has built a relationship with residents who are otherwise isolated due to their preference of being alone and avoiding communal areas. In the case of a particular resident, he has encouraged him to take a quiz for the other residents each month and this is possibly the only time this resident engages with other residents in a social capacity. This gentleman does not always like people in his space and this could mean staff whom mean well, but he has made a connection with the volunteer that he appears to always welcome him," says a member of care home staff.

The resident says of his volunteer, "He spends one to one time with me. We generally have a chat on sports, life, politics and our shared interest in quiz gameshows. He escorts me to the local newsagents when I need personal supplies. We take a general knowledge quiz for the other residents once each month and often keep in touch in-between his visits to discuss questions for the upcoming quiz. It is nice to have someone from the outside world to talk to and get a different perspective on things I have seen on the news."

The volunteer adds, "Most of the residents - and staff - are women, so my role is to spend time with some of the male residents to try to involve them as much as possible in the life of the care home. One man who is quite insular has become more involved in the life of the home as a result of helping me with the quizzes. Another said to me that while he is happy in the home he misses conversations more than anything - which I think sums up my role."

It's wonderful to see how that regular connection with a volunteer and offering residents a purpose, such as organising a quiz, can help a resident find encouragement to engage socially with other residents in a way that they find enjoyable and within their comfort zone. Thank you to all our volunteers who make meaningful connections like this possible. Please do get in touch if you'd like to do something similar in a care home near you!

Whether you're travelling this summer, or staying local, you could help brighten the day of a care home resident and evoke happy summer memories for them by taking part in our Summer Postcards project, run by our Hampshire Co-ordinator, Zoe, but open to anyone in the world to get involved in.

Postcards can be handmade or shop bought, of places you've been or dream of going, and could be of far-flung places or closer to home, or a photo of a favourite summer pastime e.g. a cricket green, beach scene or picnic at the park.

Care homes tell us the postcards make such a big difference - "Residents really enjoyed receiving the postcards and reading them. It was a real boost for their mental well being and a real talking point as we were able to take them to those in communal areas as well as those nursed in bed."

Last summer's postcard project saw around 850 postcards sent to residents at 56 care homes across Hampshire - can you help us send even more this year?

We're delighted to welcome Yvonne to our staff team as the new Isle of Wight Co-ordinator!

Yvonne says, "I was a nurse for many years and spent 15 years working in a nursing home and so am very much aware of how important the work of Embracing Age is. 

We continue to actively recruit for volunteers all over the Island to meet referrals, including people who'd like to do 1:1 visits as well as expanding group befriending with more well-being groups. We would particularly like to recruit in the Cowes area, where we currently have no befrienders.

I am hoping to expand our cards of kindness project - we currently send out over 200 cards a month, but still have care homes we have not yet had contact with. We are also in discussions to connect some care homes with others - perhaps making cards for each other or becoming pen friends.

We'd love to put together a fundraising team to help promote the charity and help raise vital funds for the charity.

From September we will be gearing up for our Christmas Gifts Box appeal, including looking for grants and funding, and volunteers - it takes a good size team to organise this, all of whom work really hard.

If any of this appeals to you - please do get in touch to find out more!

A big thank you to all of the befrienders, card makers and crafters on the Island who do such a fantastic job and embody everything that Embracing Age stands for. 

On 30 May, Foxhill Conference Centre welcomed people from across the Diocese of Chester for a thought-provoking conference on strengthening the Church's ministry with older people, where attendees explored how churches can become places where people not only grow older, but flourish.

The morning's keynote sessions were led by our Churches Co-ordinator, Paul Crowther. The opening session challenged delegates to reconsider the role churches play in the lives of older people. It was so encouraging to see how keen the attendees were to engage, think and pray about their own church's ministry. One participant reflected: "Paul’s explanations had a marked effect on my attitude to the older people in my church. I have repeated his beautiful comments to other members of our leadership team and it led to a lot of discussion."

The second session on caring for carers, resonated deeply with delegates, many of whom recognised the often unseen pressures carried by family carers. This was followed by two seminars we ran on ‘How to have supportive conversations’ and ‘Making our church a welcoming place’.

More than simply a training day, the Foxhill conference challenged churches to think differently about ageing, caring and community. Delegates left with fresh ideas, practical skills and renewed confidence to support older people and those who care for them.

The conversations that began at Foxhill are continuing in churches across the Diocese, prompting reflection, discussion and a shared commitment to ensuring that every church is a place where people in later life can belong, contribute and thrive.

If you would like to get encouragement and support from Paul for your church, please do get in touch with him at paul@embracingage.org.uk.

It's not too late to submit your special recipe for a chance to see it published in our printed recipe book!

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!

Isle of Wight: 51st Steam Show, Friday 28th August - Monday 31st August, 10am - 6pm at Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Havenstreet - come and chat to Yvonne and team on the Embracing Age stall about how you can make a difference on the island. Full details here.

London: Evergreen Conference, Wednesday 23rd September at Westminster Chapel - come and chat to Paul at this conference hosted by the Pilgrims' Friend Society for Christians who work with older people - in churches, ministries, chaplaincy, or the community. More info and book your place here. 

Isle of Wight: Fundraising Concert with Shanklin Town Youth and Community Band, Friday 30th October at 7.30pm at Shanklin United Reform Church - come and enjoy this musical evening while raising vital funds to bring meaningful connections to more care home residents. Free entry with a collection at the end. Refreshments available. Contact yvonne@embracingage.org.uk.

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