West Wolds U3A

The hall was bustling with people, and the chairs which were usually laid out in formal rows, had instead been placed around large circular tables in a much more informal and friendly arrangement.
Our chairman welcomed everyone to this special anniversary meeting and commented that whilst he was putting together a PowerPoint of photographs taken over the last twenty years, he was amazed at just how much West Wolds had evolved and grown.
Steve then welcomed the guest speaker Pam Jones who is the previous chair of The Third Age Trust. Pam remarked that it was a joy to behold such a vibrant group and, that she always tries to find some sort of connection to where she is visiting; in our case, she revealed that her husband’s first posting had been to RAF Hemswell and they had lived in Gainsborough for a while. She then proceeded to give a brief history of U3A and how and why it was set up. Many people might be surprised to hear that U3A was originally conceived in France however, when the idea reached the UK in the early ‘80s, it was significantly modified into a national network of learning groups aimed at encouraging older people to share their knowledge, skills and interests in a friendly environment.
Pam’s one concern is that she still meets people who don’t know what it is despite there being 1039 active groups and 425,000 members nevertheless she says, the movement continues to go from strength to strength because it is unique. She went on to thank the West Wolds founding members, some of whom were seated behind her and, commended us on our fantastic range of interest groups which has now reached 51. Her final task was to cut the cake with Steve so it could be distributed amongst the members.
On the stage in pride of place atop a table covered in the special tablecloth made to commemorate the organisation’s first ten years, sat a beautifully decorated celebratory cake. As our tables were also adorned with cloths and plates with serviettes, we knew that it would not be long before we would be enjoying a slice of the said delicacy.
As the cake arrived on our tables, some of the founding members took to the mic to share their memories of how the West Wolds U3A came to be, their particular involvement in it, travels and highlights over the years. The old adage ‘mighty oaks from little acorns grow’ perfectly describes the development of West Wolds U3A. It was started by a handful of like-minded people getting together some twenty years ago to plant a seed; little did they know it would grow into being such a very successful group with 360 members.
As a mere fledgling member compared to some, Steve rounded up the morning’s festivities by reflecting on his involvement in it over the past four and a half years and, how it had supported him personally through sad times. He then went on to praise the membership for coordinating the wide range of self-help groups, meetings and social activities on offer and, reiterated that this is only possible because of the teamwork and willingness of members who offer to organise and run groups and events for the benefit of everyone.

20th Anniversary Organisers

Long may it continue.

Cheryl Holdship began her talk by explaining that she started her career as a Social Worker, working for a local authority. As a consequence of an accident to her husband she had to become a carer for him and then became an independent Social Worker. She found working for a local authority very unsatisfying because she often had to pull back from clients who still needed her support whereas now she’s independent and funded by her clients she can be committed to their care needs.
She proceeded to outline two case studies but changing names and some of the details to preserve anonymity.
Case Study One was Anna who had Parkinson’s disease, living at home and receiving 24 hour care. Her care was funded by the NHS Continuing Health Care budget. At one point she went into hospital and when she was back at home she needed two full-time carers. Eventually she went into a care home as part of a relocation so she could be closer to her family. Cheryl took on the role of monitoring the care provision by visiting the home every two weeks. This meant that when the family visited they could dedicate their time to their mother and didn’t have to worry about the management of the care she was receiving. Cheryl referred to this as “Monitoring Support”.
Case Study Two was Jane and Paul where Paul had a stroke and was initially cared for in hospital. On being discharged his care was paid for by the NHS Continuing Health Care but this was withdrawn. It seems the NHS in their efforts to control their budgets are cutting back on Continuing Health Care funding and the administrators are making decisions based on cost rather than need. Cheryl’s role in this instance was to assist Jane to put together an appeal and to prepare her for the appeals process. Jane won the case and all funding was restored. Cheryl referred to this as Task Support where here involvement was concluded once the appeal had been successful.

Cheryl explained that the definition of “Continuing Health Care” is unclear with the courts having defined it in one way and the NHS National Framework describing it differently.

There followed a question and answer session that clearly indicated this is a complicated area, particularly if someone is self-funded and needs to procure the right care package for themselves or a loved one. There is a legal obligation on Local Authorities to undertake an assessment of all people requiring support however the first part is a financial assessment. If someone has assets of over £23,250 (which include their house if they are a homeowner) then some Local Authorities will charge for the assessment.
The difficulty of finding carers for home care in a rural location can be especially difficult because some care agencies do not pay their staff for the travel time between clients. Cheryl pointed out this practice was reducing because most carers will not work in this way.
Several questions regarded paying for care homes which varied in price from £450 to over £1,000 per week and the cost alone wasn’t a guarantee that the more you paid the better care you received.
It was a lot of information to take in and at the end of the talk the only clear thing about Adult Social Care is that it is a minefield for those of us who have to navigate it on behalf of our loved ones.