LIFE ON LOCKDOWN
Jenn collects donated tablets to connect care home residents with their families
A SIMPLE video chat with her mum was the spark for Jenn Nimmo-Smith to launch a nationwide drive to connect care home residents with their families.
Jenn, 33, stayed in touch with mum Kathleen, 60, through her iPad after a stroke meant she needed to live in a care home.
Now she wants to help others do the same with the initiative through Scottish Care.
This week, the first devices will be in the hands of lonely residents.
With isolation looming, Jenn approached Scottish Care to suggest the idea – and she’s since been overwhelmed by donations and is set to make the first deliveries for the new Scottish Care Tech Device Network in the coming days.
Public relations worker Jenn told the Record: “I put up an initial Facebook post to my friends and family, which was to just try to gauge who would be up for volunteering to help deliver devices and so on once it all came together. So many people shared it, offering help and saying it would help their loved ones. “To have the whole thing come together in 10 days from me reaching out to Scottish Care and us launching it has been truly amazing.
“Scottish Care has made the Scottish Government aware of this initiative and it is looking at ways it can be connected with wider ideas it is working on.” Jenn is working on logistics of safely delivering the first batch of donated devices this week, being careful to follow lockdown guidelines of making minimal journeys and leaving disinfected devices on care home doorsteps for staff to collect. “The response has been brilliant. But there are a lot of people who need our help so we are only at the beginning. “After I’d video-called mum, I realised that while we were super-fortunate in that she had an iPad, so many people wouldn’t have this luxury. “I wanted to make sure it was done properly so I reached out to Scottish Care via Twitter, which has been brilliant to work alongside, especially Becca Young its policy and research manager.
“It has built a web page where people can donate devices.
“Care providers can also put in requests for what they want, then we work out how to distribute fairly.
“With this web page now in action, it’s meant that we have been able to roll it out across the whole of Scotland.”
Jenn is even hoping to continue the initiative beyond lockdown – and she wants to also help those who don’t have families or friends to stay in touch with, by inviting volunteers to “adopt” a care home resident to chat to.
She added: “The hope with this campaign is that it will continue to help people connect far and beyond lockdown.
“I am working on some ideas around connecting care residents who don’t have family or friends with people – human connection is one of the most important things in life.”
If you’d like to help, donate a device or find out more, go to www.scottishcare.org/techdevicenetwork/