Quarterly Progress Report
Combating social isolation
in the Wokingham Borough
~ period 1/1/2015 to 31/3/2015
Queen’s Award Nomination
Introduction
The Link Visiting Scheme delivers a befriending service throughout the Wokingham Borough. We
are part funded by Wokingham Borough Council with the balance being sought through events,
grants and trusts. Our clients are socially isolated and typically, elderly people, who benefit from
somebody spending a couple of hours with them in their homes on a regular basis. Our clients
enjoy the opportunity to chat with somebody who, over
time they come to regard as a friend. This core activity
is enriched with a variety of clubs and social gatherings.
Highlights;
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Reaching 211 isolated elderly people
Mobilising 191 local volunteers
Taking steps to increase capacity.
Mission and Strategy
Our mission is to combat social isolation in the Wokingham Borough. By increasing our Clients’
sense of wellbeing within the community we hope to promote independence and minimise
dependence upon more costly statutory provision. This complements the Council’s Preventative
Strategy. Our strategy for achieving this is to undertake the following processes;

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To seek socially isolated Clients by referral from professional agencies, families, or
directly from Clients themselves; carefully assessing each individual’s needs and
signposting services as appropriate
To seek Volunteer Visitors from within the Wokingham Borough community; carefully
vetting each one before inducting them into the scheme
To introduce Clients to compatible Volunteers, laying the foundation on which friendships
can develop; providing ongoing support
To provide further social opportunities to Clients, such as the Understanding Computers
course, Coffee Morning, Pie & Pint Clubs and seasonal parties; encouraging them to
venture out and meet people.
To provide training and support to our Volunteers.
Link Visiting Scheme - Quarterly Progress Report - January-March 2015
Performance Review
Referral Sources
Home Visiting Service
Currently 148 clients are receiving visits from a pool of
144 carefully vetted volunteers. This represents a
slight contraction on our size last year (166 clients
receiving visits from 155 volunteers).
Sustaining our capacity requires concerted effort from
the staff team just to “stand still” in terms of current
size. To this end in the past 12 months we have
assessed 126 new referrals, recruited 50 new
volunteers and made 67 new introductions. Even so,
82 link-ups have ended for reasons such as death of
client, or the client/volunteer moving out of the area.
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Referrals received April-March
Now, with the receipt of additional funding to bolster
the staff team we plan to expand further.
Our Other Services
In addition to our Visiting Service we offer a Coffee
Morning, tuition on “Understanding Computers”, a
reading group, five “Pie & Pint” clubs, Bowling
(seasonal), Sing-along Club, Crochet Group and a
Board Games Group.
These groups have been steadily growing. Not all
members of a group will attend on every occasion,
but each will receive a friendly, encouraging phone
call from someone who cares.
Current numbers of service users
Visiting Service
Understanding Computers
Pie & Pint Clubs
Coffee Morning
Reading Cure
Singing Group
Crochet Group
Board Games Group
148
10
91
15
6
23
22
21
When all of our services are included, we are reaching 211 clients with many of them accessing
multiple services. This has been achieved by mobilising a team of 191 local volunteers.
Signposting other agencies
We actively signpost services offered by other agencies including Age Concern Berkshire, Keep
Mobile, Home Library Service, Falls Agency, Handyman Service and Social Services.
Partnerships
We have good links with a network of 32 local churches who provide an excellent source of
volunteers, as does the Wokingham Volunteer Bureau. We have contact with a wide variety of
voluntary sector groups, the Earley Charity, Berkshire Community Foundation and the Interfaith
Forum. We have also been active within the Dementia Alliance.
Link Visiting Scheme - Quarterly Progress Report - January-March 2015
Client Profile
76% of our visiting clients are female and
77% of visiting clients (those who choose
to give their age) are over 80.
Location of
Clients
receiving visits
The vast majority reside within the
Wokingham Borough, though we try to
retain contact with those who move
outside the borough boundary wherever
feasible.
Many of our Clients have health/disability
issues, the most common being Mobility,
Sensory and Memory/Dementia issues.
Limits to Service Provision
On occasions we receive referrals of
clients with complex needs that exceed
the capabilities of our service, but these
are few and far between. Such Clients are
signposted
to
more
appropriate
organisations.
Health Issue
Mobility
% clients being
visited
51
Memory/Dementia
32
Sensory
45
Depression
21
Cardiac
Mental Health
Respiratory
Learning Difficulty
20
9
7
3
Unknown
100+
90 - 99 yr
80 - 89 yr
70 - 79 yr
60 - 69 yr
50 - 59 yr
Under 50
Male
Female
0
20
40
60
80
Volunteer Profile
Our services are delivered by a large team of 191
local volunteers, led by a small part time staff
team of 5. This extensive mobilization of
volunteers delivers benefit in terms of
community cohesion and intergenerational
understanding. So who are these volunteers?
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Link Visiting Scheme - Quarterly Progress Report - January-March 2015
80% of our volunteer visitors are female
30% are aged under 50
54% are in their 50s or 60s
16% are over 70
Our most senior volunteer is aged 89!
The National Picture
We separate funding for work to replicate the Link Visiting Scheme
in other parts of the country. Jeremy Sharpe has been spearheading
this initiative together with Marjie Walker.
The map opposite indicates the areas where we are working with
local groups to establish autonomous befriending schemes. These
will follow the proven pattern established by Wokingham’s Link
Visiting Scheme. Eleven schemes are now in operation (red pins)
with many more in the pipe line (yellow pins). The replicable nature
of our model is now widely recognised.
Sustaining our capacity
First the problems and then the solutions…
Our client base has been aging and their
circumstances have become more complex – with
the result that both clients and volunteers require
more support from the staff team and the
turnover (or churn) in our client base has become
more pronounced.
Total Nr Clients
Nr Visiting Service Clients
250
200
150
50
Mar-15
Dec-14
Sep-14
Jun-14
Mar-14
Dec-13
Sep-13
Jun-13
0
Mar-13
For all of these reasons we have seen a slight
reduction in our capacity over the past year – but
we have plans to reverse that in a sustainable
manner.
100
Dec-12
At the same time our staff team have experienced
their own health issues. Coupled with that, in the
past quarter we have lost one of our senior staff
members. Recruitment of her successor is
underway.
We have received funding that will allow us to increase staff hours, respond to demand for our
existing services, and develop new ones. By continuing to address loneliness and isolation we will
deliver outcomes that benefit individuals, our community and the civic purse.
We have plans to improve our outcome monitoring, enhance our technical infrastructure, and will
develop sustainable plans for the future in partnership with Wokingham Borough Council, other
agencies and voluntary sector organisations.
With our track record in addressing loneliness and social isolation locally we are well positioned
to play an important part in responding to demand by delivering much needed outcomes.
Contact Details
Scheme Manager, Marjie Walker: [email protected]
Admin enquiries, Mike Atkinson: [email protected]
The Link Visiting Scheme, Unit B, 9 Easthampstead Road,
Wokingham RG40 2EH
Tel: 0118 979 8019 www.linkvisiting.org
Registered Charity Nr 1139248,
Company Limited by Guarantee Nr 07349468
Link Visiting Scheme - Quarterly Progress Report - January-March 2015