2018 Charity Award 2nd place - SCCCC

As Sheffield Churches Committee for Community Care (SCCCC) was voted in 2^nd to receive a donation from the 2018 Charity Award, we were invited to go to their recently relocated office in Sheffield to find out about a bit more about what the charity offers. 

We were greeted by CEO, Mark Storey and Operations Manager, Sharon Saunders who showed us around the office whilst explaining how the service works.  One of their roles is to offer support to an elderly person if they are admitted into hospital and after they have been discharged. Support can vary from taking personal items and medication into the hospital, keeping an eye on their home to make sure it is safe, feeding/looking after pets to providing transport once the client is able to come home and making sure that their home is warm and there is food available for them to eat.  This is something that may normally be done by family, neighbours or friends.  Sadly many elderly patients are often isolated with no friends or family to assist, this is where SCCCC come in. 

A hire service is also available for occupational therapy equipment such as high back chairs, walking frames and other useful items such as a temporary key safe, which is great if a person is temporarily unable to answer their door to let in visitors and carers. 

The good neighbour scheme is a free service which involves carefully matching a volunteer with a lonely, isolated person over the age of 65 in the Sheffield area.  This could involve visiting the person at home for a chat, escorting them to hospital or doctor’s appointments or helping with small tasks within the home such as moving furniture around to make access easier. 

Dot, who works on the good neighbour scheme, told us how important it is to match the correct volunteer and client and that the selection process is quite lengthy and costly. Our charity donation will be contributing towards recruiting new volunteers and their training programme.  Dot also pointed out the safety of the volunteers is paramount and anyone thinking about volunteering can be reassured that procedures are in place to ensure their personal safety. 

Going back a few years, volunteers were predominently female  but now the male/famale split is starting to even out. They have volunteers of all ages, I think they said age 87 is their oldest volunteer who actually goes out to see people younger than himself! They do seem to have a shortage of volunteers in the age group 35 - 45 but other than that, a good mix. 

I came away from SCCCC happy, knowing that the donation Sheffield Mutual is contributing will help this charity continue with the vital service they provide and help eliminate some of the loneliness that affects so many of the elderly in the Sheffield area.

Can you help?

Their volunteers are seen as crucial partners in their mission to help older people and have been the heart of SCCCC for 50 years. Over that period many people have given their time and energy and enabled them to continue the work, and bring SCCCC to the place it is today.

People volunteer to help with a variety of tasks, opting to help out on a regular long term basis or on a flexible or one off basis. Last year their volunteers not only helped to take over 50 older people home after admission to A&E but also carried out over 4,000 hours of friendly visiting to help combat loneliness and isolation among older people. They match their volunteers’ skills and experiences with the needs of the older person they are supporting to ensure mutual benefit.

Their experience of managing volunteers has been developed over 50 years and they make sure that the volunteers have the right skills and abilities that are needed for them to perform their role.

If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering with SCCCC please ring Sharon on 0114 250 5293 or apply here.