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6/11/2025 0 Comments "Everyone should have a Sally in their life" - Mary and Sally's befriendship story A care home on the Isle of Wight recently shared this beautiful story of the life-changing impact on one of their residents thanks to our volunteer befriender:
"Mary had been living with her son and daughter in law, but after a time it became clear that she needed more care and she moved to our care home. After Mary moved here, her son became very ill and passed away, and her other sons live on the mainland and are not able to visit. Mary was spending more and more time in her room and did not want to engage with the other residents so we felt she was become increasingly isolated. When Sally started visiting, the change in Mary was amazing. If you happened to go upstairs when Sally was here you would hear shrieks of laughter coming from Mary's room and they would chat away for ages. It has been lovely to see their friendship develop and it has made a huge difference to the quality of Mary’s life. I think everyone should have a Sally in their life. Embracing Age has been so supportive to our care home. The majority of our residents have dementia and the wonderful craft ladies have made little creatures to hang on walking frames so that we can easily identify whose is whose. They also made some lovely little bags to pop over the handles so that our residents can put tissues, spectacles and bits and bobs in. Sadly we do have residents that for whatever reason have no visits or little contact with their families and the cards of kindness have been a lovely treat to have. All in all, Embracing Age has been wonderful and special thanks to Rebecca for her continued support and understanding." Get involved and follow our work We are always in need of volunteers to meet the demand of referrals from care homes for befriending, regular cards and our other initiatives. Our volunteers receive full training and support, and there are a wide range of ways you can make a difference with whatever time or skills you can offer. Please use the button below to see full details of all our volunteer opportunities.
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Groups of all shapes and sizes operate across the country to bring carers together to talk, share, and help with the daily challenge and relentless nature of caring for a friend or family member. Whether support groups, workshops or online ‘cuppas’, they play a vital role in helping carers combat feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Carers Connected – an initiative we provide – is one such gathering that provides a space for carers to come together and share experiences. The group operates online, via Zoom, and has proved hugely valuable for helping carers in need. But unlike, other groups, Carers Connected brings an added dimension of faith and fellowship. Sarah Smith, Carers Connected Co-ordinator, shares some of the participants' stories on the difference the group makes to them. "Read More" below to hear their perspectives ... Congratulations to Team "Number 7" who were the winners of our All-Age Spring Quiz with a very impressive 87 points out of 100 for rounds 1-7, and an amazing 114 words from the word polygon, making a grand total of 201 points. Their team consisted of 4 family members from 3 generations, showing the power of intergenerational team work.
A further 3 teams scored over 80 for rounds 1-7 - congratulations to you all too. It has been lovely to hear stories of families and groups taking part together when they met over the Easter weekend. One team comprised of a group of families who took part while holidaying together. There were also entries from care home teams and residents enjoyed the quiz, especially the animal and flower rounds. One entry was a real team effort - care home residents took part with volunteer befrienders, a sports fan tackled the football round and it was finished off by a group of street pastors during their tea break one night. They told us "there was something for everyone" which is fantastic to hear as this is what we had hoped it would be. "Read More" below to read about the quiz winners, reveal the answers and how to find out about future quizzes.
It's two years since Embracing Age launched in Hampshire, and we’ve made some incredible strides in supporting older people. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of so many individuals and groups across the county, we are now linking with care homes and supporting residents in a growing number of areas locally, as you'll see from the many pins on the map below!
"Read More" below for the full article to see the positive impact we’ve made together and the exciting initiatives still to come ...
One of our newer volunteers has shared a beautiful story about the friendships she's been building with three residents - relationships that have rebuilt her confidence and given her something to look forward to, just as much as the residents she spends time with.  Well done to "Sylvia's Dream Team" who were the winners of the Embracing Age Big Christmas Quiz. The team consisted of Sylvia, a resident in one of the care homes we support in Hampshire and members of her family - four generations in total!
Sylvia said, "I'm looking forward to going out to a nearby Costa with family to enjoy our prize voucher. Sometimes my daughter will pick up a takeaway Costa and we will sit by the water at Hamble in the summer."
Their winning score was 120 (out of a possible 165 marks), just 4 points ahead of joint second place teams. Thank you to all the individuals and teams who took part in our quiz - together you raised an incredible £550! Your support will enable us to bring companionship to more care home residents this year. The quiz answers are now available via the button below. We plan to produce more fundraiser quiz sheets in the coming year so why not sign up to our quarterly newsletter via the button below to hear when they're released!  Thanks to your incredible generosity, our final Big Give Christmas Challenge figure for 2023 including offline donations is a whopping £18,105!
We are overwhelmed and are giving so much thanks! Your kindness means so much to a small charity like ours and will make a huge difference in enabling us to expand our care home friends projects, meaning more companionship and joy for more care home residents in 2024 and beyond. From the bottom of our hearts, huge thanks to everyone who shared our campaigns, held fundraisers, donated, and gave their time to make this happen. And of course big thanks to our Champion, the Reed Foundation, and our private pledge supporter, for their generous match-funding and enabling us to take part. 26/9/2023 0 Comments "Mary's presence in the home has really helped Jan settle in and feel at ease".In March, we appointed Zoe and Sarah as our new area co-ordinators to pioneer Embracing Age in Hampshire. 6 months on and it's staggering to see how much they have already got going! The local community has really embraced the initiative and the project is already supporting 35 individual care home residents across 14 care homes with trained befriending volunteers as well as lots of craft projects. Read on to hear Zoe and Sarah's update on the amazing difference already being made to residents and others involved in the project, and the exciting things in the pipeline.  |
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