Community is admissions
become frightened and too scared to ask,” Lena said. “Loneliness is the worst thing that causes so many other things. That fear can lead to depression and a feeling that no one cares if you live or die.”
That particularly rings true for people with dementia: “The ones who join in don’t deteriorate in the same way,” Lena said. “They can live better lives too. It’s very simple what we do, but it makes a difference. Lots of things affect other things, so it’s something as simple as walking the dog and also a friendly face and a cup of tea afterwards and a chance to make sure they’re okay.”
Solva Care is evidence that “a community-based bottom-up approach can work” and that it can be developed to cover all aspects of community wellbeing. It will soon be the first local communitybased project in Wales and the UK to integrate domiciliary services with a voluntary service.
Other communities have come to them asking for help and advice to set up similar projects and they’ve been used as an example by the Welsh Government. The approach is about preventative work to promote wellbeing and self help and delay early dependency on services. The group is also starting to develop a network with statutory and non-statutory agencies to share service delivery and benefit from the learning to come out of the project so far.
Lena thinks more locally-run community care groups could help to reduce pressure on services. The last report by Solva Care showed that nearly all those who use the services have slight or moderate difficulties with some aspects of daily health and scored overall health lower than volunteers. Two thirds of clients and nearly half of volunteers used hospital services or visited a GP in the past three months. Clients said they valued Solva Care for providing practical and emotional support which enabled them to remain independent and active in the community.
Right at the front of Friday club is 91-year-old Vera and her dog Lucy. She’s all bright eyes and smiles as she tells me: “Lucy comes everywhere where I go.”
She only lives across the road and walked down herself. She wouldn’t miss it for the world: “If you’re down in the dumps, you can walk in with the music going and everything is okay again,” she said.
Vera has three children and seven grandchildren, but lives alone in Solva. Perhaps she’s lived so long because she doesn’t have a man to look after any more, she joked with a mischievous smile. She’s the life and soul of the party and Lucy works the room like a pro too.
Margaret, 89, is sat further along the row and she is also quick to get up and dance. Up until two years ago, she was driving her own car, but she’s stopped now and tells me she “really misses it”. She enjoys listening to the “lovely tunes”. Sat next to her, 88-year-old Peggy agrees and says she “loves” the band.
She gives a Lucy a pat on the head and says: “I’m envious of Vera looking after a dog, I couldn’t look after a dog now.”
Every so often, volunteer Judy Schunemann, 69, jumps up and coaxes them all to dance. She often runs mindful movement classes for residents, which she says are largely sit-down exercises but which help them keep more mobile nevertheless.
She said: “The main thing is people feel safe. Old people can be frightened of falling, but actually they find they can do more than they think.”
Suddenly, the band strikes up a tune she recognises and with a whoop she’s back on her feet grabbing Vera for another dance. It’s a strikingly beautiful scene showing the power of friendship. Sue gets up to dance too and her face is a picture of joy.
A rendition of Hit The Road Jack gets people swaying and tapping their feet. The enthusiasm is infectious. But there’s also something very dignified in the way each and every person in the room is seen as an individual. They are not old and frail people, nor are they burdens. They are friends and the connections are real and run deep.
Solva Care started in 2015 when project leader Mollie Roach came up with the idea, convinced that care could be delivered more effectively. At the time, the pilot was thought to be one of the first of its kind in the UK. But it doesn’t run for nothing and it has to secure funding annually to cover its £55,000-a-year running costs. The last lottery funding allowed it to take on Lena, as a development co-ordinator, to provide activities to help older people stay fitter for longer.
But that funding runs out next year and the group is desperately looking for alternatives. For those in the room and who benefit from Solva Care, it’s impossible to put a price on independence and the ability to live in their own homes. The demand on the NHS has never been greater and so the work done by the volunteers has never been more important.
As we sneak out the door with Bear Necessities ringing out behind us, it seems that what’s really necessary is a revolution in how health and social care is delivered in Wales. Solva Care is leading the way with Vera and Lucy the dog at the forefront.
The ones who join in don’t deteriorate in the same way... they can live better lives too. It’s very simple what we do, but it makes a difference