Staying Connected

Jigsaw Piece

Staying ConnectedYou may have noticed posters like this around the area recently.
It is hoped that as many people as possible will make the effort to come along to the Lyon Hall on Friday 11th March at 7pm to find out more about the Compassionate Communities schemes facilitated by Severn Hospice, and the valuable community transport work done by the North Salop Wheelers.
The phrase “Anyone for CoCo?” expresses well the thinking behind Compassionate Communities, because it is a scheme that can be and has been replicated in different areas, enabled by the Severn Hospice but realised by local volunteers and tailored to the needs of their own community.
“Co-Co’s” aim to tackle loneliness and social isolation. The scheme involves towns and villages setting up their own volunteer befriending service to help frail or vulnerable people to stay in touch. Mr Cronin has surprising evidence about the reduction in uptake of other services, just because people feel “in touch” again and have someone to talk to.
The backbone of “Co-Co’s” are volunteers who undertake to support someone in their own community for just a few hours each week. It doesn’t involve providing personal care, but rather companionship and a willingness to help the person to live their lives more fully in practical ways. Volunteers are given initial training and on-going support by Severn Hospice.
For more info, see this page on the Severn Hospice website.
Noth Salop Wheelers LogoNorth Salop Wheelers help to keep people in touch with their local community by getting them out and about. They provide affordable transport in North Shropshire to people unable to access other means of public transport by reason of age, disability, isolation or poverty, for instance a community bus service to Market Drayton, Wem and Whitchurch on market days.
But just as Co-Co’s cannot function without their volunteers, NSW can only keep people connected if they have sufficient drivers. “We urgently need volunteer drivers, so if you can spare a few hours now and then, please help us to provide this vital service.”
For more info, see their website.
If you would like to help motivate people to come along to this meeting, you can download a PDF version of the poster by clicking on the image of it above. It would be greatly appreciated if you could display it in a prominent place such as a noticeboard or shop window.
Jigsaw Piece