Arran Friendship Café (AFC) aims to increase its reach and accessibility by delivering its café-style meetings for older people at an additional location, to better address social isolation, loneliness and build community on Arran.
Description
AFC has formed to maintain social connections and support for older people on Arran, following the cessation of the Well Being Café in September 2024. The group plans to run fortnightly café-style meetings to support the health and wellbeing of older people (and their carers/family) on Arran by reducing social isolation and loneliness and empowering members to build a supportive community. The meetings will be held in church /village halls and support will be delivered in a relaxed and supportive environment, both by peers, volunteers, individuals and organisations.
The new group aims to increase its impact and reach by working more broadly with organisations and services on Arran and is looking to address barriers that may prevent older people attending the cafes and encourage new members.
What do we need:
In this bid, we are seeking funding to enable us to hire a hall to run a café in an additional location and to provide resources to cover meeting costs (venue hire, a healthy soup and bread lunch, activities, external practitioners, photocopying and cleaning materials) in the short term (up to a year) whilst we move towards a self-funding position. Whilst opportunity to meet in a safe, warm space underpins these meetings, the provision of healthy refreshments and games and activities that promote mental and physical wellbeing, significantly enhance the benefit and impact of the cafes but are funding dependent in the short term. We are proposing a nutritious low-cost soup and bread light lunch on arrival to ensure our members have a hot meal in the middle of the day. Previous sessions involving external practitioners have also proved very successful and we are keen to build on this success with a diverse and engaging programme of activities as funds permit moving forwards.
Breakdown of costs:
Based on 22 meetings per annum; we could hold the first 9 at our fixed base and then seek to hold the remainder in different locations and so support more members.
13 meetings p.a. @ 3hours hall hire at (typically) £14/hour = £546
Photocopying of games/ word searches etc (22 meetings @ £5) = £110
Board games and books = £70
Cleaning materials = £50
First aid kit = £30
External mental and physical health activity practitioners: musicians/physical activity teacher/holistic therapist (estimate) £120
Total estimated costs: £1366
Location: The AFC has been formed at short notice following the sudden announcement of the cessation of the Well Being Café on the 11th of September 2024. The announcement was given without notice to members or volunteers and no handover arrangements made. The profound sense of loss and worry amongst our members, for whom the meetings were a lifeline for support, social contact, friendships and ‘breathing space’ for carers attending with partners, has driven this rapid response from the volunteers, carers and family members. The former Café was run as a CIC and it is the intention moving forwards that this new group will run as a constituted group. In the interim, whilst this is formed, we have met with Arran CVS who have kindly offered to hold funds for us in the short term until the group becomes constituted and a bank account can be set up and have also offered assistance with the provision of first aid training and PVG checks moving forwards. In the short term, as no vulnerable older person is ever alone with any
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