In Summer 2021, we received the wonderful news that The National Lottery Community Fund was granting £10,000 to Happy to Help to support older people in Gateshead to regain their confidence and improve their wellbeing.
How Happy to Help Used the Funding
We employed Jordan and Joanne to provide free, one to one assisted outings support for older people so that they could rebuild their confidence to go out after a prolonged period of time staying safely at home during the pandemic.
“My family live away. Covid has been terrible. I felt like things were never going to be the same again. I missed playing bridge with my friends and going to my Tai Chi class. I was anxious about leaving the house, and after a while I started to feel like ‘what’s the point’ of looking forward to going out again.”
Our assisted outings service supports older people aged 65 and over to go out. As a result, our clients are able to stay at home, in the communities where they feel safest, and can keep their independence by having support when leaving the house. The support has been needed more than ever over the past year to help people regain confidence, mobility and connections they had missed since March 2020.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest funder of community activity in the UK, helped us to support 51 local people to receive the service free of charge for several outings. As a result, people felt better knowing they could go out again safely, which has a positive impact on wellbeing.
At the same time, we were also able to continue our popular home help and cleaning service which helps hundreds of older people and people with disabilities to live in safety and in the comfort of their own homes.
Sharing the News
Once we received the wonderful news, we shared our free assisted outings project widely:-
On our social media pages, our website and online directory, OurGateshead
In community venues such as shops, newsagents, GP surgeries, hospitals and community centres
With local organisations and support services including community nurse teams, Alzheimer’s Society, Stroke Association, Red Cross, Sight Service, Age UK Gateshead and the Citizen’s Advice to name just a few.
"A volunteer from Age UK told me about the assisted outings service. I had a friend that was my carer to help me go out, but she had ill health and could no longer visit so I was becoming housebound. The service must help people in a similar situation to me, being housebound without support and disabled. The social side of the service, and having company and to get me out to places I like to go to once per week with Jordan’s support has helped my situation. They are all very friendly, approachable and helpful staff. I give it a 10/10 for helping to maintain my independence to do things.”
How People Used the Service
The great thing about the Happy to Help Assisted Outings Service, is how flexible it is. People can use the service when they want to, how often they want to, and to go to wherever they want or need to go. By accessing the service free of charge, people were able to go to the places they would most benefit from on their road to feeling more confident about being out and about again, knowing there was someone there to support them and provide an arm to lean on when needed. Here are just a few of the ways that people used the free service:-
Going out for walks
Going to local grocery shops
Visiting cafés
Visiting shopping centre
Museum visits
To attend appointments
Going to the hairdressers
Some people had more befriending visits at home to gradually build up confidence to go, to ensure they were not overwhelmed
To help attend a lunch club or social group, to integrate with others and access activities and hot meals. People knew this would be beneficial, but it was a daunting experience accessing face to face support for the first time in a very long time, not knowing anyone who already attends. People therefore used their free outings to help them to meet new people and to feel settled and confident to attend independently.
What Benefits did People Experience?
Each person used the service in a way that benefitted them most. For some people, welcoming someone from Happy to Help into their homes was a significant milestone, particularly for those with no social and support network who may not have had a visitor for a very long time. Here are just some of the benefits that people told us they were feeling throughout and after their free sessions:-
Improved Confidence
A boost to motivation
The outings gave people something to look forward to, which boosted wellbeing
Increased positivity
Improved trust in their own abilities when out and about
Greater independence
Less isolated and more sociable
Our main aim was for people who accessed the free service to feel confident enough after a few outings to go out independently, or continue to make progress without support.
We were really pleased that, for many beneficiaries, they achieved this.
“The past few years have been awful. I had a stroke during Summer 2020 on top of the anxiety of Covid. I used to be very sociable but I’d not been out for a long time due to the mobility problems I now have after the stroke. Having someone with me to go out boosted my confidence greatly. I know I can do it now.”
For others, their mobility and confidence had been affected greatly during their time at home, and after their free sessions we were able to signpost or recommend additional services and support, such as befriending or social activities, that could help people on a longer term basis depending on their existing challenges and goals.
“My daughter recognised that I needed some company before I did, especially on the days that she didn’t visit me. I enjoy talking to people and the company so I agreed that the Happy to Help service would be good. I have a very supportive family but they also have busy lives. My daughter would visit me and she was becoming worried about me when I’m on my own now that everyone has gone back to work. It’s nice that when my daughter cannot make it, I have something to look forward to and to see someone you like. It stops me from feeling lonely and gives my family peace of mind. I enjoy going out now very much, especially for a chat and a coffee.”
When we contacted people after a few months of accessing our services, to see how they were and if they were still feeling the benefits of having support to go out and about, we received some lovely feedback that people were continuing to go out independently, had some great memories of their time with Jordan and Joanne, and had maintained the positive changes to their wellbeing.
“I’d lost confidence getting out and about. I’ve used Happy to Help in the past so I knew they’d be able to help me again now I’m frailer and slow getting out and about. I feel isolated because of this. It has been something to look forward to, and I enjoy the visit. I really like the service, because they really are happy to help! I enjoyed the outings very much indeed.”
About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest community funder in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. National Lottery players raise £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since June 2004, we have made over 200,000 grants and awarded over £9 billion to projects that have benefited millions of people.
We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
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