Age Concern Visiting Service

Everyone benefits with Age Concern Canterbury Visiting Service

Age Concern Canterbury has established a wide range of services that help address the needs of older people in our community. The Accredited Visitor Service and Companions on Paws are befriending services that provide regular visits to older people who would like more company. The majority of older people are not severely lonely, but findings from The Social Report 2016 show that 10 percent of New Zealanders aged 65-74, and 13 percent of those aged over 75 feel lonely all, most, or some of the time. This is important, not just because loneliness is painful, but because having inadequate social relationships has been shown to be as bad for health as smoking. Loneliness has also been linked to increased likelihood of entering rest home care. You could benefit from the Visiting Services if you feel like you would like more company, or that you spend too much time on your own. If you would like a visitor, you only need to contact Age Concern Canterbury and a co-ordinator will come to see you in your home to get to know you. The co-ordinator will then match you with a carefully chosen trained volunteer who will begin to visit you for about an hour each week. “Companions on Paws” is a new addition to our visiting service where a volunteer and their companion dog will visit on a regular basis. This service is proving popular with those older people who have had pets throughout their life, but for many reasons are now unable to do so. The relationships established through the Visiting Service are mutually beneficial. Our volunteer visitors often find the person they visit become special friends and wise mentors, while those being visited value the intellectual stimulation, humour and friendship the visits provide. Volunteers are the core to both these services, and our co-ordinators work hard to provide ongoing training and support to ensure that everyone has a rewarding, safe and enjoyable experience. If you feel like you would benefit from a visitor or wish to volunteer with us, please call our coordinators Rebecca (331 7816) or Peter (331 7809).

If you want to volunteer with your dog or would love a visit from a four-legged friend please call Bev (331 7817).

A free bacon butty breakfast entices the tradies

By J F Pearson

The blackened night’s sky slowly changed to a lighter hue as a monster tool sale at 6.50am was located at Placemakers Riccarton front carpark.

The area was awash with hi-vis top tradies. This annual event was designed to encourage trades personnel to view the latest tools of their trade and also think about security of the tools. More than 500 tradies made the most of a free cup of coffee plus steak, bacon and sausage sandwich whilst mingling and viewing the 30 plus colourful stalls and displays which added to the atmosphere. Riccarton Community Patrol members plus several NZ Police were at the engraving table site. Tool engraving is a recommended security practice, and many new tools were engraved with the tradies unique motor vehicle drivers’ licence numbers. One of the tradies thought he was going to miss out, because his licence was at home. However, the Police were able to find out his information with the aid of the police mobile phone, and was able to add, not a demerit point to his name! This is just one-way Riccarton Community Patrollers have the community at heart, would you like to join us? Please leave your contact details at riccompatrol@gmail.com or phone (03) 335 0114.

Deterring graffiti

With a goal of reducing the level of graffiti in their area, the Shirley Village Project recently unveiled an additional two murals in MacFarlane Park, bringing the total number of murals in the park to six.

This community-led project is a great example of working together, enhancing your community and providing a deterrent to further acts of graffiti vandalism. If you would like to design and create a mural within your own community, please contact us at the Graffiti Programme on 941 8999 or email us at: graffitiprogramme@ccc.govt.nz.