L4A

We work with older people receiving care across Leicester and Leicestershire

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Tales We Have Told and Shared

The Power of Stories: Tales for Telling and Sharing

L4A was delighted to be featured on regional news as part of The People’s Projects (more information here). Five charities pitched projects to the TV audience in order to gain votes from the public and L4A The Power of Stories won. This project ended in March 2017 but a legacy from the project continues with staff and volunteers feeling empowered to continue the work.

You will see from this video here that stories really do have the power to help older people feel healthier and happier. Listening to stories together unlocks memories and prompts people to share their own stories – making friends in the process. Working with professional storytellers, this project also involved training and supporting carers, care home staff and volunteers with storytelling skills.

Storytelling Video

Learning for the Fourth Age (L4A) delivered storytelling in 10-12 care homes and we have found it to be a very positive way of including and involving those whose situation can cause them to feel isolated and excluded from activity. The impact of the project was so significant that we recruited Hilary Comfort to evaluate the project in detail for us. We are delighted with what she found and the full report can be downloaded here for free:

Storytelling Evaluation

We are so inspired by the impact of this work that we are going to try and find further funding to roll it out to more settings, more nursing homes, more staff and even, for example, community hospital ward settings in the near future so watch this space!

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A Fond Farewell to Musical Care Homes 

We launched an exciting project as part of Leicester Ageing Together in 2015 called Musical Care Homes. It was designed to reduce the isolation, loneliness and boredom some older people feel through the use of music.

L4A worked in partnership with Soft Touch Arts for this 18 month long piece of work. We have created a short film to highlight the successes particularly for the older people involved, including those who have dementia, which you can view by following the link:

CLICK HERE FOR FILM LINK

Active participation in group music-making has been found to impact positively upon physiological and psychological health, to increase happiness amongst individual members and to contribute to enjoyment, personal development and empowerment. Contrary to what some people believe, musical development and progression are entirely possible for older people. Researchers have tested musical aptitude amongst people over the age of 65 and have concluded that capacities for musical development are maintained with age.

More information about Leicester Ageing Together can be found on their website here where there are lots of exciting activities underway for older people across Leicester to support independence and tackle loneliness.

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Volunteer Case Study: Alpha John

I first joined L4A because I heard it was a great organisation to help those with mental health problems to live their lives to the fullest where they can enjoy their favourite hobbies and other awesome activities such as arts and crafts! I was very glad to be a volunteer as I was keen on helping them live their lives the best way they could as they got older. One of my one to one sessions was with John who is a very light-hearted person and enjoys creating drawings using charcoal pencils.

I enjoyed seeing how friendly all the staff and patients were at the care home – it was amazing. Also, the drawing sessions I had with John were so fun as we learned more about each other and how we have common interests, like we are both into Indian food and gardening. The sessions were one hour or so long each week and I enjoyed seeing how John’s drawing skills improved each time I visited him. One of his best drawings was a batman picture which he added his own twist to it by angling batman’s face in a different direction, this surprised me and I realised how great John’s imagination is! Our sessions started with him drawing stars using a ruler but as time went on he started drawing freehand and added shading with shadows and highlights to faces, animals and landscapes. It was quite the learning journey!

I learned lots about how you can still have fun and learn new hobbies even as you get older. I was also able to see how the whole care home works and how the carers are always there to support the patients if they need to. The whole experience showed me how vast the caring world is and this has inspired me to find out more about the things I saw. I wasn’t expecting to learn how being a carer was such a passionate role which included encouraging patients to persevere when at times they felt they lost the confidence to go on. For example, when John felt he found the face drawings hard, through a little encouragement, he attempted them and produced good pieces of art. I was excited about getting home, as I had so much to speak to my family and friends about!

One special highlight for me was how my contribution to John’s life has made a great impact on him as he said ‘you’re an inspiration and you get me going’. This was so heartfelt as he lets me know from time to time how he enjoys the sessions and how he eagerly waits to get the sessions started! I was so pleased that he takes keen interest in them.

I will definitely say that volunteering with the L4A is a worthwhile experience for anyone of all ages and background.This experience has strengthened my consideration of pursuing a career in a caring profession in the future, perhaps through a medical degree. The volunteering experience has made me realise how much of a lasting impact that carers can have on people’s lives and the lives of future generations.

 

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B is for ‘Baking’ – our A to Z of social prescribing continues

Paul Bagworth loves to bake and his legendary Rocky Road recently sold out like… erm, hot cakes!

Paul baked and donated the sweet treats to sell on Learning for the Fourth Age’s craft stand at the Evington in Bloom May Day sale. He raised £23 pounds for his chosen charity, The MS Therapy Centre in Leicester as a result.

MS Therapy Centre Manager, Jo Hill commented, “This is wonderful news and typical of Paul’s very giving nature. As a self–funded charity every penny counts, enabling us to provide much needed therapies and support to people from across the city and county. We really appreciate Paul’s donation and thank L4A’s Social Prescribing project for supporting his talents.”

Paul is indeed a man of many talents and for those who know him, also has a wonderful sense of humour. In partnership with L4A he’s planning a special publication for Downing Drive GP surgery, entitled ‘Paul’s Pick Me Ups’ aiming to raise a smile with patients in the surgery waiting room.

This work is part of L4A’s Social Prescribing project. The idea of social prescribing is that the cure for many modern ailments may be more than just medication and so the project uses learning or volunteering as the medium to engage isolated older people in their communities.

Our A to Z of social prescribing aims to capture the full, varied and vibrant lives of older people with whom we are working over the course of the two year project. This project is part of and funded by Leicester Ageing Together. More information about this programme of work can be found here.

To find out more or to get involved, Anita Barrand can be contacted via email anita.barrand@l4a.org.uk or on 07964 091 693. More information be found about our Social Prescribing project here.

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Baking a Difference… update so far!

Baking a Difference is an exciting, innovative new trial project from Learning for the Fourth Age, in collaboration with local community business Planet Leicester Bakers. It uses the many activities and skills involved in hand making fresh bread. The project is being developed in two care homes and a sheltered housing setting where L4A already works.

So far we have been delighted with how well the activities have been received and the many smiles it has brought to residents’ faces! Each programme is four sessions long and is being adjusted to be as interesting, challenging and achievable as possible for all who would like to take part. We’ve done scientific experiments with gluten and yeast, shaped different breads, and had a lot of fun with sprinkles and decorating techniques! At the end of the programme we gather all the photos together and the residents create displays of their work to show visitors and relatives what they have achieved.

The sessions also give people the chance to talk about memories of bread in their lives and the 1970s bread strikes are definitely a strong memory. Where residents have limited physical abilities we’ve noticed that they enjoy watching and reminiscing or taking part with support from volunteers. However much they get their hands sticky, residents’ attention has been held for the full length of the sessions: a hugely positive result.

There is lots of choice given to residents as to what they want to do and work with and even those not sure about the activities at first have eventually become involved and enjoyed the simple joys of working bread dough and creating something unique and special to them. Indeed, the physical action of working bread dough has, as is so often the case, proved to have therapeutic qualities. Residents have enjoyed eating freshly baked bread, brought in by Planet Leicester Bakers and sometimes shaped and baked during the session, resulting in the lovely aroma of fresh, real bread in their homes.

As always the work is dependent on the support of staff at the homes and we have been delighted with how positive people have been about the project. It certainly has shown that fresh bread has the power to bring calm and smiles to people and their communities.

For more information about Planet Leicester Bakers, please contact Michelle Stratford, the Founder of Planet Leicester Bakers or visit their website: www.planetleicesterbakers.co.uk 

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Art on the Ward

L4A is providing 15 art sessions each in 2 community hospitals in Leicestershire (St Luke’s Market Harborough and Coalville Community Hospital) for the stroke rehab wards. We are working with up to ten inpatients and any visitors who are with them on each session.

We have planned to deliver the same series of art sessions in the two settings. We anticipated that there would be differing challenges at each hospital which would be informative when looking at taking the work forward. During the sessions there is time for discussion with relatives/visitors and this will help us to develop a ‘What to do when you Visit’ resource which would be useful for them when they are visiting. This may also be something we could use in Care Home settings too.  The aims of this pilot are to:

  • Provide meaningful and stimulating creative activity
  • Work alongside the multidisciplinary team to encourage rehabilitation following stroke
  • Relieve boredom
  • Encourage confidence
  • Boost mood and wellbeing
  • Provide topics for conversation
  • Distract from illness and problems associated with long term hospital admission
  • Create a lasting piece which can be displayed (or taken home.)
  • Inform a basic resource which can encourage visitors and family when they are thinking about what to do when visiting their loved one in hospital.

The project was planned together with the matrons, ward managers, activity coordinators, occupational therapist and physiotherapy leads in both hospital wards.

Clare Miles has led the project and is working with another artist, Rowena Williams, to facilitate the sessions. Together, a 15 week plan of art sessions has been developed. Each session is planned in advance, materials and examples are prepared and session guides written so that all participants are able to take part in the session with the help of the volunteers and facilitator. These guides will then form a lasting resource for the activity coordinators on the wards and for staff and volunteer learning mentors to access at L4A.

At the half way point we have worked with 74 patients and visitors across the project. We have 3 regular volunteers now at each site. 1 of our volunteers has herself had a stroke.  Coalville Community Hospital also has the benefit of 3 ‘Pink Ladies’ who are full time activity coordinators on the stroke ward. This has led to a marked difference between the two hospitals for delivery and general interest and engagement in the project.

We have noted that patients and visitors at Coalville are ready and anticipating the sessions in advance – this is in contrast to the ward at St Luke’s where the it seems harder to motivate patients and visitors to join in particularly when the ward staff are very busy or there are only a few therapy staff on hand.

During the project at both hospitals there have been some really lovely examples of art work and achievement, as well as many comments about the project and its benefits from both staff, visitors and patients. Art sessions which lead to a product which can be kept or shared, such as a greetings card, is really appreciated and is a wonderful outlet for expression particularly for the dysphasic patients and those who are not able to speak at all, but can still write – or who make art with a family member who then writes to them. There have been many expressions of surprise and examples of people exceeding their own expectations – or just getting ‘lost’ in the activity and finding themselves distracted from their illness.

Visitors have also been surprised by being invited to participate, this has given them a new perspective on visiting time! We are really excited that we have already had enquiries about replicating the project on other wards and are looking forward to facilitating the second half of the project in the coming weeks.

We have also had the opportunity to display art work from the project in the exhibition space at St Luke’s Hospital on Ward 1 and also as part of our celebrations art exhibition in the Guildhall in Leicester at the end of April 2017.

The ‘Art on the Ward’ Project has been made possible by a charities grant through the Arts in Mental Health NHS service for Leicester Partnership Trust.

 

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First Ever L4A Art Exhibition Off to Great Start

Our first ever art exhibition is proving to be a great success with people from the general public and our supporters dropping in throughout the day.

If you have not made it down to join us yet, don’t worry, there are still two more days to come and catch the artwork, produced by older people receiving care across Leicestershire. The exhibition continues at the Guildhall in Leicester from 11am until 4pm on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 26th April. We look forward to welcoming you to our free and friendly exhibition in this beautiful, unique venue. Examples of some of the artwork submitted by our learners (mostly in their 80s or 90s and some with dementia) is below.

Thank you to all the volunteers involved so far.

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We’ve been busy…!

We’ve all been super busy recently and are delighted to have had our former colleague and current freelancer back in the fold to curate an exhibition for us, as well as some other work too.

We’ve hired a van, rented a beautiful historic building and ordered lots of different and beautiful printed cards. We’ve been created labels and stickers and finding a cash box. We’ve been organising staff and volunteers to We’ve been traveling around the city and county collecting art works that older people have chosen to submit to our exhibition at the Guildhall to share with the wider public.

All we need now is for you to come along and see the artwork for yourselves, and to spread the word to others you know who may be interested. All of the art that will be on show at the exhibition has been proudly produced by older people receiving some sort of care and support to go about their daily lives – some live in care homes or nursing homes, others live in supported sheltered housing schemes and others live at home. Some of our artists are in their 90s, most are displaying their art for the first time and some have only ever painted, sketched and created art with our charity, Learning for the Fourth Age.

The art exhibition will be held on Tuesday 25th, Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th of April at the Guildhall in Leicester. The exhibition will be open from 11am until 4pm each day and is completely free to view, as well as open to the public. Come along and join us in celebrating the achievements of some of Leicestershire’s oldest learners. 

Examples of some of the artwork that will be on display are below:

 

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Love our work? Join our team!

We are delighted to have a new position available at L4A. This domiciliary project is to provide learning to older people who are receiving care and support to go about their daily lives but living at home on their own. This project is funded by Esmee Fairbairn for a further 2 years and 6 months but the purpose of the roles is to create a self sustaining strand of L4A’s work that can then continue on permanently beyond the funded period so it has the potential to become a permanent position, if you are successful in the role.

Below is an advert for the position, as well as a job description for the post. Please contact Melissa March on 07545 842 315 or by emailing melissamarch@l4a.org.uk for an informal conversation if you require any additional information at all.

Job Advert: Domiciliary Project Coordinator JOB ADVERT

Job Description: Domiciliary Project Coordinator JD

Deadline for applications is Monday 22nd My at 12pm
Interviews will be held on Thursday 25th May

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Support us

It is our privilege to work every single week amongst older people, carers and volunteers who have the energy, will and ability to create positive change in care. L4A is, however, in need of ongoing monthly donations to support this good work improving wellbeing through learning for some of the oldest people in Leicester and Leicestershire.

If you have some spare change each month that you’d like to make a real difference to the lives of older people, please sign up to give a one off or monthly donation here and know that your money is going to support the valuable work of a small, innovative local charity.

Do you shop online? Almost everyone does these days, even our care home residents! Sign up to Give As You Live for free and with every purchase a small percentage of your shopping spending will be donated to L4A, at no cost to you! Make sure you type in our full name of “Learning for the Fourth Age” to nominate us as your charity – happy shopping!

You can also undertake a challenge for sponsorship, like Rozanna recently did when she raised £180 running the Surrey Half Marathon for us in March. More information here. If you have an idea that you’d like to get sponsorship for, please don’t hesitate to contact any of our staff or email info@l4a.org.uk as we’d love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance for your ongoing support.