CheeRing is one of those Projects, which like so many of Maldon Mind’s developments, started in response to a local need and was championed by local people but has become a valued service across a much wider area.
It started in the rural Uttlesford District in West Essex, where the Primary Care Trust, seeking solutions to the problems of isolation and depression in older people living at home, asked Maldon Mind to design a scheme. Myra Houlding with her customary verve, responded with a simple, effective and cost-effective Project, naming it CheeRing - and the project was born! This was then recognised by the Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT and later by Colchester PCT and now there are three schemes in three “patches”.
The Project was developed from the insight gained during the development of MERIL/NERIL, when
it was found that older people do not readily access helplines. Many life changes in older people such as bereavement and failing health can lead to isolation, one of the biggest contributors to depression.
Cheering operates two models of service provision. The basic model is a one-to-one weekly phone call made by the trained staff member - the Befriender - thus forming an ongoing supportive relationship. We have also developed a scheme using a technology originally conceived for business - Group Conferencing whereby the Befriender facilitates a group discussion for up to eight people. This has opened up new friendships for many isolated people and is another development which could
be successfully used in any area.
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The funding streams of this small Project are complex, traditionally with generous support from grant-giving Trusts. This year:-
Uttlesford and M&SC both have funding from Essex County Council Adult Social Care;
British Airports Authority Trust has supported Uttlesford;
Lloyds TSB Trust has supported CheeRing as a whole;
National Mind and Rural Minds have continued to fund the Group Telephony.
In recognition of the fact that CheeRing provides an important safety net for people who are often excluded from the security of normal community activities, Uttlesford Community Safety Partnership has also given a grant to the Project.
With the aid of small grants from Rural Minds and National Mind, CheeRing has also developed a Group Telephony scheme for the local area.
The CheeRing Team is Coordinator Sue Dowd; Befrienders Sandra Brush and Barbara Perkins; and our retired Coordinator, Jeanne McCleay who covers annual leave and sickness across all the patches. During 2006, Sue spent some time in hospital and the Team rose to the occasion and kept the Project running well, but such is the relationship built up that we were inundated with get well messages and enquiries about her health every time the other befrienders rang!
Even in Uttlesford District which has championed CheeRing, there have been continued uncertainties since the birth of the scheme in 2000, because of the vagariesof annual and local level funding,
and 2005/2006 has been no different.
This is an excellent scheme which makes a huge difference to so many older people’s lives, and we trust that the Commissioning bodies of the future will recognise this and that CheeRing will grow to cover the whole of North Essex in the coming years.
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