The 3rd meeting of the Congleton Partnerships latest group the Senior Forum took place on the 27th January. There is a lot of actions to follow up as the group takes shape and moves forward! (Please see the minutes).
Crewe and Nantwich Senior Forum.
During the meeting Adrian Lindop gave a presentation on the Crewe & Nantwich Senior Forum. The forum which has a strap line of ‘No service for us without us’ was constitutionally formed in 2006, meeting every 6 weeks and developing an action plan and some clear goals.
It is now very much resident/volunteer lead, building a very strong ‘family’ ethos along the way. They have strong partnerships and funding support from both local authority, local services and national streams. They involve the public / volunteers by playing / using their individual strengths making sure people feel valued for their efforts. They have created awareness of the forum by being proactive involvement in community events, hosted workshops ,demonstrations and increasing their membership.
With the help of their strong team of volunteers they have organised a number of successful projects ( Slow Cookers / Tree Cozy / Blooming Lovely) to name but a few. Currently they hold a Friday ‘Drop In’ (10 to 12.30pm) each week at a set time and location where residents can go for a drink, refreshments, chat and advice /support/ signposting. Since 2009 they have held a major Health & Wellbeing Fayre which has become so successful that they now have a waiting list of organisations / exhibitors and close on 200 residents coming through the doors.
The session certainly gave us plenty to think about and a real direction to aim for.
We certainly need to reach out to the public, grow a bank of volunteers to take our own forum on. The newsletter project and the planned ‘Senior Health Fayre’ planned for Congleton may be good places to start.
For all the other news view the minutes here.