New Vehicle Hits The
Streets
In May, a new Multi Purpose vehicle with mechanical lifting gear for wheelchairs was acquired at a cost of £17,000.
This new vehicle will give SERVE much greater flexibility in scheduling journeys to the Day Centres and, being smaller, can be used for individual transportation.
The official handover ceremony was held recently and was attended by the Mayor of Rushden Cllr Clive Woods, the Chairman of East Northants District Council Cllr Albert Campbell together with representatives of major donors, Rushden Golf Club, Barclays Bank and The Lloyds/TSB Foundation.
SERVE
Fete And Open Day
On Saturday 9th June, SERVE held a Fete and Open Day at Rushden Hall. The event
was to show the community what SERVE has to offer and to try and raise some
money at the same time. We would like to thank all the staff and volunteers who
kindly helped on the day. We managed to raise £800 with the help of companies
who generously donated items for our raffle.
New Mayor—New Centre
The recently installed Mayor of Higham Ferrers, Cllr Anna Sauntson,
officially opened the Ron Manning Centre in Higham Ferrers by unveiling a
plaque.
Although the Centre has been running for some months it has only recently
started opening for five days a week and now has a full time Manager, Mrs
Christine Slater.
The Centre is appropriately named after a very prominent local volunteer who
devoted his time in keeping the streets of Higham Ferrers clean and litter free
and who unfortunately died a couple of years ago.
The Ron Manning Centre offers a useful and needy extra service on Monday and
Friday when it caters for clients who require more attention and care in
bathing.
Day Centre Re-Named
The Crane Centre, which is in the grounds of Rushden Hospital, Wymington Road,
has been re-named The Sylvia Smith Centre.
At a presentation ceremony during the SERVE Open Day at Rushden Hall, a brass
plaque was presented to Sylvia Smith which will be displayed at the Centre.
Operations Director Barry Graves, who has taken over from Sylvia, said “This is
in recognition of the years of dedicated service that Sylvia has given both to
SERVE and the people of Rushden. The old Crane was Sylvia’s idea and the
introduction of a Health Farm was both innovative and professional and reflects
Sylvia’s attitude to care”.
The Chairman of the Management Committee, Peter Pillai, also paid tribute to
Sylvia during the presentation and wished her a long and happy retirement.
New Volunteer Co-ordinator
Richard Massey has joined SERVE as the Volunteer Co-ordinator. Richard is well
known at SERVE through his connection with the St Vincent de Paul Society, whose
mini-bus we have shared for the past five years. He also works as a volunteer
with other charitable organisations.
“SERVE is a Voluntary Organisation” said Richard “and, as such, is very
dependant upon its volunteers. We need to keep them involved and informed and
not take them for granted. As a volunteer myself, I am aware of how easy it is
to become detached from the organisation”.
A major part of Richard’s time will be spent on trying to recruit new
volunteers. One of his initiatives is to work closely with the local Job Centre
to encourage people seeking employment to spend some time volunteering. The
benefits are reciprocal—SERVE gains some well needed help and experience and the
volunteer enhances his or her c.v. through work experience.
In addition to his duties as Volunteer Co-ordinator, Richard will also be
responsible for Staff Training & Development.
Accident Prevention
SERVE has launched a new service aimed at reducing accidents in the home. The
scheme, which is funded by the NHS, Northants County Council and Age Concern,
Rushden, operates throughout East Northants and is available to anyone who is
over 60 years of age or disabled.
A volunteer who is suitably trained will visit the house and assess the work
that is required and, providing it is within his scope, will pass the enquiry to
SERVE’s Handyman for completion.
The type of work covers things like installing grab rails, changing light bulbs
and fixing loose carpets. Any work that cannot be handled by the Handyman is
referred to other agencies such as Care & Repair. Advice is also given where
necessary on any available grant aid that may be available. The only charge for
the work is for the materials used.
SERVE are working with Volunteer Action in Oundle to ensure that the whole of
the area is covered and the scheme was officially launched by Phil Hope MP at
the end of April. Following the launch Barry Graves said “There is a need to try
to eliminate accidents in the home. Some 87% of all accidents involving the
elderly occur at home. SERVE are pioneering this scheme in East Northants and I
am certain that it will grow enormously over the coming months”.
Volunteer Notice Board
Frank
Driscoll has had to give up running the Computer Training at Church Street due
to ill health. We all send our best wishes and thanks to Frank for the wonderful
work that he has done in establishing the Club.
The Club will continue to be run by Mick Bowers and Gerry Allen.
Staff Matters
We are
pleased to announce that Debbie Moore has been promoted to Transport Manager.
Christine
Slater has taken over as Manager of the Ron Manning Centre at Higham Ferrers.
Sally
Richardson is the new cook at Church Street.
Mollie
Parsons has not been too well recently and we hope that she will soon feel
better and look forward to her return.
Letters
Dear Mrs Moore
Just to say a big thank you to all who work so hard in the Transport Service to
help us, and look after us, with such loving care. I am deeply grateful, and am
sure many others are also. It is a really blessed service.
Sincerely,
Kath Emtage
The Late Laura Wheatley
Now that the funeral is over and I have given up the keys to Mum’s bungalow, I
feel that I should take a moment to thank all at SERVE who looked after my
Mother during the period from September ‘96 until recently.
Whilst moving into a Care Home has proved to be the best way for many people to
tackle the problems of old age, Laura always wanted to stay in her own home and
I think that, for her, this was by far the best option. I am convinced that
being able to remain at home gave her several extra years of contentment with a
fair few laughs along the way.
Living at home would have been impossible without the continual efforts of the
SERVE Carers so I would like all those involved to know how grateful I am for
all that you have done. I am certain that Laura would add her sincere and
deepest thanks to mine if she could and I can only hope that this note will be
adequate to do it for her.
Norman Wheatley
Dear Peter Pillai
How do you thank people for an honour such as you have bestowed on me? I think
for the first time in my life I have been speechless. Hence the long time in
putting together this letter.
My Grandson has not stopped telling people that his Nana has had a building
named after her and he echoes my family’s appreciation of what you have done.
May I also remind everyone that SERVE is where it is today because of the
support of people like yourself and all those others in our community that
believed in an idea to help older people.
Thank you all.
Love Sylvia Smith
Editors Note
This is the first of what I hope will be a regular quarterly
publication.
It is your Newsletter so please send contributions, articles, letters, etc. to
Heidi Dear, 19 Church Street, Rushden, NN10 9YU. Tel : 01933 315555. Fax : 01933
395747. E-Mail : serve.care@virgin.net