Helmsdale.org

End of road for Crossroads \'friends\' service

A "BEFRIENDING Scheme" run for older people by Crossroads Care East Sutherland is to come to an end because it has run out of money.

The closure of the three-year Lottery-funded project means that 21 pensioners across the area will now be left without the support they have come to rely heavily upon.
The project saw care attendants from Crossroads visit clients for a one or two hour period on a weekly or fortnightly basis simply for a chat, to take them to hospital appointments or to go shopping.
The scheme operates independently from Crossroads' main work which is funded by Highland Council and NHS Highland and is to provide respite care.

One pensioner who has benefited from the scheme is Margot MacGregor of 71 Gartymore, near Portgower. She is presently unable to drive following a bout of illness early last year and has been taken grocery shopping weekly by a care attendant.
She said this week that she was devastated to learn the service had come to an end. She is so upset that she has now written to constituency MSP Jamie Stone and Highlands and Islands MSP Rob Gibson.
"It has knocked me for six. I am so dependent on it," she said. "I have a been told that one couple from Brora were in tears when they heard about it."
Miss MacGregor also complained that she had been given very little warning that the project was to cease.
Clients this week received letters, dated last Friday, 8 January, from Crossroads chairman, Rev Derek Brown informing them that the scheme was to be terminated as from Monday, January 25.
Mr Brown said the action was being taken with deep regret and very much as a last resort. But he held out hope that if other sources of funding were found, the project would be reinstated.
He told us: "I can understand people getting upset about it but we have just run out of cash."
The Befriending Scheme, which cost around £20,000 a year to run, was set up in 2006 and received Big Lottery funding for a three year period until the end of March 2009. Since then it has only kept going thanks to donations and fundraising efforts by Crossroads Care directors staff, including a concert at Dunrobin Castle.
Crossroads manager Karen Phipps explained: "We've funded the scheme ourselves since March last year. We wanted to keep it going in the hope that we would be able to secure other funding in the future. But now we are in a position where we need to close it. It's a horrible way to start the New Year."
She said clients lived throughout the area with the furthest north located in Helmsdale and others in Ardgay, Bonar Bridge, Golspie, Dornoch, Lairg and Rogart.
She added: "The service enhanced the lives of our clients. Care attendants did whatever suited the clients best. People living in more isolated areas would usually ask to be taken to the shops or to the library or medical appointments. Sometimes all our clients wanted was someone to speak to.
"It was never any more than two hours a week and it was such a small amount of time to give to these people, yet it made such a huge difference in their lives.
"Over the last three years it has proved to be invaluable. Whenever we sent out questionnaires about the service, they would be returned saying what a wonderful service it was and how much people looked forward to it."
Mrs Phipps intends to keep applying to funding bodies in the hope the scheme can be re-started.
East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor Deirdre Mackay stressed that the Befriending Scheme was quite distinct from the core Crossroads service.
"I'd like to reassure the public that the scheme is entirely separate from Crossroads' core function which is to provide respite care. That is funded largely by Highland Council," she said.
"It's very important that members of the public and current Crossroads clients are assured that the core service is unaffected."
She said the Befriending Scheme, like many such smaller projects, had succeeded in getting a three year tranche of money but had then found difficulty in accessing further funding.
Councillor Mackay continued: "It's desperately disappointing and sad that it's finishing because the demand is there and existing clients have come to rely on it for social contact and support with various activities.
"I know that Crossroads have tried very hard to access alternative funding to enable this project to continue. They've used their own money to keep the service running as long as possible. We can only hope that at some point it can be resumed."
Constituency MSP Jamie Stone confirmed he had received a letter from Miss MacGregor regarding the closure of the Befriending Scheme. He said he intended to bring the issue to the attention of John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth.



 

Published on Thursday 14 January 2010 by David Mason
Last edited on Thursday 14 January 2010 by David Mason