New faces for care collective
Six new members have joined the Perthshire-based Care and Wellbeing Community Interest Company (CIC) in recent weeks.
The group of self-employed professionals, carers, therapists and wellbeing specialists helps to provide care, support and activities to people living in rural areas.
Working alongside local communities, Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership, private care providers and voluntary sector groups, it aims to support people – in particular older people and those with additional needs and health problems – to lead the life they want in their local community.
It also aims to create and support a network of micro-businesses and social enterprises delivering a range of services within the care and wellbeing sectors, and in a variety of different ways.
Its members offer a wide variety of services, including respite support, community care, independent living solutions, befriending, sports massage, counselling, stress management, herbal medicine and therapeutic gardening.
The latest east Perthshire practitioners to join the Care and Wellbeing CIC include a carer in Blairgowrie and a wildlife walking tour operator in Murthly.
Blairgowrie-based carer Jill Davies said:“I became a self-employed carer after spending two years as a project worker looking at how rural communities in Perthshire support older people to live independently for longer.
“It is a real privilege to give people back the power to make decisions around their quality of life, simply by being there to help when they need it.”
Murthly-based Daniele Muir runs Perthshire Wildlife and Celtica Wildflowers, and the wildlife tour side of her businesses has been badly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and restrictions imposed as part of efforts to tackle the global pandemic.
She said:“I strongly believe that nature and the outdoors are great healers and help with both physical and mental wellbeing - and the lockdown has shown how true this is.’’
Olivia Robertson from Alyth-based The Home Straight, which offers independent living solutions for older people, is a director of the Care and Wellbeing CIC.
She said:“We are absolutely delighted to welcome these six new members who bring a range of skills and a wealth of experience with them, further boosting the services we can offer those needing support in rural communities in Perthshire.’’