20 May Be Caring’s Community Impact
At Be Caring, we believe that by providing our Care Workers with the time and resources they need, they can make a lasting difference to our clients and communities. In 2020, we began rolling out our shift pay model in Leeds, and by August 2023, we were delighted to announce that all our homecare workforce was paid on a shift basis. Instead of using a traditional pay-per-call model, all Be Caring colleagues are compensated from the start to the end of their shift, including travel and training time. This change allows our Care Workers to go above and beyond in supporting our clients’ wellbeing beyond the tasks outlined in the care plan.
Introducing the Community Champions Project
On March 15th, a Care Coordinator in the Newcastle team shared information about a series of coffee mornings held at Kenton Library in the Community Champions WhatsApp group. Zainab, one of our champions, identified her client Louise* as someone who was socially isolated and would benefit from attending. After gaining Louise’s consent, Zainab supported her to attend the coffee morning on March 19th. Louise thoroughly enjoyed her time at the coffee morning. Zainab said,
“It was wonderful at Kenton Library; our client really enjoyed the activity with a group of other older people. She had a lovely chat with others about her hobbies and holidays. Louise was so happy and said she would love to come back in the future.”
Zainab continued to support Louise until she felt confident enough to attend on her own. Louise now attends the coffee morning independently and has made strong connections and friendships, positively impacting her life.
Celebrating Community Connections: Engagement Day at Fawdon Community Centre
On Tuesday, April 30th, we hosted our first-ever engagement day at Fawdon Community Centre to celebrate our community connections work. The event provided an opportunity for community bonding, where our clients and colleagues could gather, meet, and socialise. The group, which included 12 clients, enjoyed an afternoon of bingo, dominoes, and dancing. Catherine, who spent the day taking photographs on her phone, wrote down everyone’s names so she could stay in touch with the friends she had made. Another client, Lilly, who usually only likes to go out with her regular carers, attended this event alone. Lilly loved playing bingo and said the cakes and scones were lovely. Everyone who attended agreed they would happily come again if we hosted another event.
Watch our short video below to see what we got up to and hear from our client Billy about what he enjoyed about the day:
By fostering connections within the community, Be Caring continues to make a positive difference in the lives of our clients, helping them lead more connected and fulfilling lives.
