Bracknell
Forest
Reg. charity no. 265351

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Age Concern Day Centre

Forest Park Day Centre

Contact

Age Concern Day Centre
27 Worlds End Hill
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 0XH

Telephone: 01344 422048

Email: daycare@ageconcernbracknell.org.uk

Enquiries

We are always pleased to hear from prospective members or from volunteers to assist with service and social activities.

For information or to arrange a visit:

Please telephone between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday or email our Day Centre Manager, Mrs Kim Dawson.

Who is the Centre for?

• The Centre was set up by Age Concern Bracknell Forest to provide a service for elderly people who are mentally confused and living within the area of Bracknell Forest Borough Council.
• Being a local charity we are non-profit making and our costs are supported by grants, gifts, donations and voluntary effort.
• Because care is inherently expensive to provide, we want to make best use of our limited facilities for the benefit of the residents of Bracknell Forest.
• We want to help prolong the time for which people can continue to live in their own homes within the community.
• We aim to help those who's health and wellbeing will gain most from a service that provides an enjoyable form of social, mental and physical stimulation. Typically, they are moderately dependent dementia sufferers.
• We want to work with and provide help and relief to the families, friends and network of other carers who support our members.

What do we provide?

We care for the elderly in a friendly atmosphere and homely surroundings.

Whilst recognising their special needs, we place great importance in respecting our members as individuals and aim for them to feel comfortable and at ease.

The Day Centre is in a quiet residential setting. The building was purpose built to be secure while allowing the elderly the freedom that they would expect in their own homes.

There is also a very pleasant, small enclosed garden which is well used by our members in the warmer months.

A Typical Day

Members are usually collected and returned to their own home in our mini-bus, which has a low step and a wheelchair lift. All journeys are escorted by one of our regular team of trained carers who assists members on and off the vehicle and into the building.

The minibus makes two round trips in the morning and again in the afternoon. The first collection departs the Centre at 9am and the first return trip leaves at 3pm. Thus members are in our care for an average of six hours (depending on bus routes which may be varied to accommodate special needs of some members).

It should be noted that we emphasise social interaction and therapeutic activities, and six hours can be quite tiring for an elderly person. We take pride in the fact that our members enjoy the day without any need for a television.

On arrival at the Centre, members are welcomed with tea and biscuits. A two course cooked lunch is served and hot drinks are available throughout the day.

By arrangement, members may be dropped off at the Centre by their own family or carers after 9am and collected before 4pm, if or when that is more convenient.

Activities

The place often buzzes with laughter and singing because we constantly encourage group participation and do not have a separate activity room. Specialist facilitators attend the centre and one of our carers, Jane, organises and leads wide variety of daily activities which are joined by our volunteers and other staff. For example:

Members are encouraged to participate in activities but it is always entirely by choice and we respect their right to choose how to spend their time.

Additional Services

We operate a toe nail cutting clinic at the Centre every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and a hairdresser attends the Centre one day per week.

We are not registered to provide medical treatment or personal care such as bathing but visits can be arranged for doctors, nurses and therapists.

Carers

We are sympathetic to the needs of carers and relatives who need to provide twenty-four hour support and supervision. The normal hours we operate are designed to be cost effective and make best use of our minibus and staff, but it is important to us to also provide the most respite we can for carers. We are always happy to discuss timing and try to fit our constraints to carers needs, to provide extra days if available, or to provide morning or afternoon short breaks for members.

Our acting manager likes to maintain ongoing contact with relatives and carers and discuss concerns such as changes in behaviour.

New Members

Members are referred to us by Social Services, Care Homes, and local health professionals; or directly by relatives or carers who feel they would qualify for and benefit by attending the Centre. We are happy to discuss candidates and arrange a visit to the Centre. In order to assess applications for membership, we require personal details completed on a referal form that must be approved by Social Services, GP, or other healthcare professional. All personal information will be used sensitively and in confidence.

If candidates have not already been assessed by social services we may need to ask several questions in order to make sure that our service is suitable in comparison or in combination with other adult care. Before membership is confirmed, candidates attend a trial day to verify that the service suits them. Each member has an individual care plan which we review regularly. We may also discuss progress with a care manager if one has been appointed.

The Day Centre is open from Monday to Friday and we can cater for twenty members per day. Membership is for one or more specific days each week, depending on needs. If there are no vacancies on a required day, or we do not have capacity for particular needs such as wheelchairs, the candidate may be added to a waiting list. When allocating places we may consider level of dependency, potential benefits to the member, and benefits to carers as well as practical constraints such as transport routes.

Terms and conditions

When membership has been confirmed, members are allocated one or more specific weekdays to attend the day centre and a place is reserved for them each week until further notice. A fee is payable for reserved days whether or not the member attends. The reserved days may be terminated at two week notice.

The normal fee for attendance is inclusive of refreshments, care and assistance as needed, transport to and from home, organised activities and a two course hot lunch. As of June 2011 the daily fee is £17 (which is about half the average cost of providing the service).

If the member is absent for any reason without notice, the full fee is payable.

A reduced fee or "cancellation charge" is payable if non-attendance has been notified and agreed by the previous day. This includes planned absences such as holidays or hospital treatment. As of June 2011 the cancellation charge is £8.50.

If a member occasionally wishes to attend an additional day, this can be arranged if we have a spare place available. For occasional days, the full fee is chargeable but a cancellation charge would not apply.

If a member wishes to attend for 2 hours between 9:30 and 12:30 or 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, for example if your carer is able to bring you to the centre while shopping, we will be pleased to have your company. This must be by prior agreement and a "drop-in" fee will be charged. As of June 2011 the drop-in fee is £4.

If we are no longer able to provide the appropriate level of care, for example because a member's physical or mental condition has deteriorated, Age Concern reserves the right to terminate membership or reservations immediately. This is at the discretion of the Day Centre Manager.

Our Staff

We have a closely knit and experienced core team of five carers to operate the minibus and supervise meals, refreshments and activities. They are assisted by volunteers who are sympathetic to the needs of our members.

Our staff are trained or are undertaking training at NVQ level 2 or level 3. They also have training in dementia and physical handling. They can assist eating and mobility, and supervise toileting and taking prescribed medicine.

In order to avoid unecessary cost overheads, the centre is not NHS registered. This means that our staff cannot provide treatment or personal care. However they are trained to the same standard as registered homes, and are able to respond to issues and call on appropriate professionals.

Community Links

Through providing a ‘Home from Home’ for our members, we help to enable them to continue to live on their own or with their families and carers in the community. Important to that are Age Concern's own links within the community

We work in partnership with professional services, including Social Services, Community Mental Health Team, and GP Surgeries, to ensure the well-being of our members.

Our members are normally entitled to Attendance Allowance and other financial support. We liaise with the DWP and Social Services and will help to ensure that they have the financial help they need.

With the reorganisation of adult care provision and the introduction of personal budgets it is important that budget holders and "self-funders" can make informed decisions between the various care options. Age Concern Bracknell Forest is liaising with BFBC and with other providers to address this.