Charity Foundation Care Research

The Prama Foundation leads a group of Health and Social Care charities in the South of the U.K.

Our vision is to see:

“a world where no-one is unfairly disadvantaged or excluded because of age or infirmity and where every person can enjoy life as they age”

Prama has come a long way since we became a charity in 1989 and whilst we still deliver domiciliary care across Dorset to over 500 clients, www.pramacare.org.uk we now do so much more.

We are involved in supporting the Human Rights of Older People and Age Friendly Communities locally, nationally and internationally. www.pramafoundation.org.uk

We have a Brain Injury support service.

We offer many clubs tackling loneliness and isolation for older people through PramaLife www.pramalife.org.uk

We provide gentle exercise groups for those people with limited mobility.

We run Memory Lane groups for those with Dementia or who are struggling with their memory.

We also run several Carers Groups – to support those people with caring responsibilities.

We are also helping to deliver Dementia Friendly Communities and Dementia Friendly Churches.

Covid-19 has had a significant impact upon our organisation. It is affecting the physical and mental well-being of the people we support. Some were already lonely and anxious; this crisis is making it worse for them as well as for others who cannot go out and about.

We are regularly contacting by phone the 800+ people who would normally attend our activities, to check that they are ok and getting the shopping/support they need.

We are providing Telephone Befriending groups which can involve up to 10 people at a time. A paid member of staff or trained volunteer hosts the calls, facilitating the conversations e.g. ensuring that everyone can participate, prompting conversation and identifying need.

We are also assisting with practical tasks e.g. shopping and liaising with partners so that we make the best use of all available support/resources. If someone is very unhappy/anxious we will visit them (implementing appropriate safety measures).

Please do let me know if you would like further or more specific information on any aspects of our charitable work or if you would consider volunteering as a telephone befriender.