The importance of community

There’s strength in numbers. Approximately 9,000 people across the country belong to MHA’s Live at Home schemes, which we describe as providing practical and social support to older people living in the community. And ‘community’ is a crucial point.

I see how this works on several levels. There’s the Live at Home community itself. Isolation and loneliness can have a terrible effect on physical and mental wellbeing, so having a place where older people can go to be part of a friendly and active group is a really wonderful thing. Live at Home schemes, with their lunch clubs, outings and activities are communities in and of themselves.

But they are also part of wider communities in the area. As just one example, there’s Reigate & Redhill Live at Home, which won a local Heart of the Community award for all its work supporting and engaging older people in the area. Horsforth Live at Home worked with the local council and British Red Cross to set up a community initiative offering volunteer support and befriending to people in and recently discharged from hospital.

MHA currently has 75 Live at Home Schemes around the country but we want to create more – ultimately we want every older person in the country to have the support and community that they need.  

Since Live at Home schemes are organised locally, they can really meet the specific needs of their areas, and the individual needs of their members. It’s by keeping individuals supported within a group environment that communities are formed – and that’s what Live at Home does so well.

Do you think you might enjoy joining in a Live at Home Scheme, or do you have a loved one who you think would benefit? Or perhaps you’re able to volunteer a little time to helping out? Click here to find out more about Live at Home near you.

Alison Slater

Services Manager – Community Services