The PH8 Caring Support Management Team
Hello
The Care Group came out of the PH8 Community Action Plan which clearly identified Care provision in PH8 as an area of concern. The Group report to the Community Trust through minutes of meetings and through the Project Coordinator for the Trust, Eilidh Wild, who attends meetings of the Group. It’s made up of local people with direct experience of health/care provision ( ie most local people) and representatives of the Health and Care Partnership for Perth and Kinross. Current members include representatives of the Lunch Club, Food Share, Men’s Shed, Social Prescribing service, Repair Shop, Gien a Haund and Recovery Cafe.
The Care Group
The group acts as an information exchange between existing local groups, but members have also started a number of new initiatives to improve our citizens’ quality of life. So we now have a Social Prescribing Service which can direct people to a variety of local groups offering companionship and involvement in a range of different activities. Anyone interested should contact Jeni Guthrie at jguthrie@pkc.gov.uk or through Craigvinean Surgery.
Our Benches Project has seen new benches installed above the Orchard and behind the bus shelter at the Birnam Hotel. We have a map of other possible sites where Council officials have indicated that they are likely to allow benches to be sited and it is our hope that people may wish to fund/dedicate benches for loved ones in future. Some of the sites are in attractive locations. Others are in places where they are simply needed, because of the distance between residential areas and services. At least one such bench will be dedicated in the near future. Anyone interested should contact Rosy Wright on rosyawright@gmail.com
The Foodshare initiative is now well established thanks to Doctor Jan Silburn and operates from both outside the Duchess Anne and St Mary’s in Birnam 7 days a week. Various local shops support the initiative with donations from allotments and people’s gardens always welcome at this time of year. If you have more than you need, why not bring some of your produce along to one of the outlets and share with other local people?
Outings from Rivendell and Sheltered Housing, which had ceased before the pandemic, are now in full swing again thanks to Dr Graham Wright and his team. They also facilitate some Rivendell residents attending regular sessions of All Together. The Food Train initiative , based in Perth, is now active in the Birnam/Dunkeld area , offering a
shopping order and delivery service to the Over 65s who require it. Search Foodtrain Perth.
Finally, and perhaps most ambitiously, we have secured funding for a project to recruit and support Befrienders and Personal Assistants (or PAs ). PAs can undertake a range of work from domestic help to personal care, depending on the needs of the person needing support and their carer. Befrienders are skilled volunteers who visit people regularly and sometimes take them out . Funding exists both for training of PAs and Befrienders and for ensuring
that they undergo a PVG check. If you are interested in becoming a PA or Befriender or need support around the home , please contact our Project Coordinator, Eilidh Wild on eilidhwild84@outlook.com
Contact
If you are interested in supporting any of the above or would like to attend meetings of the Care Group, please contact Eilidh Wild , Project Coordinator for the PH8 CAP Trust by phone or email.
Eilidh Wild: 07432569447