Introducing MHA Communities

7 September 2020

MHA’s community-based service for older people has changed its name and the way it provides services to support members who live independently in their own home.

MHA Live at Home has become MHA Communities to better reflect how it works across all the charity’s services and with people and organisations in the communities it serves.

The first scheme was formed more than 30 years ago and the pandemic has meant many of its traditional services for its 11,800 members such as lunch clubs and activity groups haven’t been able to be run.

Instead, MHA Communities has changed the way it supports it members, helping tackle loneliness and isolation. Over the past few months, schemes have:

• Welcomed more than 550 new members
• Delivered at least 38,000 food parcels and deliveries to people shielding
• Arranged for at least 7,000 hot meals to be delivered
• Made over 48,000 befriending and wellbeing calls
• Delivered activity packs to members
• Launched our digital offering with activities such as quizzes, coffee mornings, craft sessions, Facebook bingo, baking and keeping in touch sessions.

Jonathan Mace, Head of Communities, said: “The pandemic forced us to rethink as a service what we were doing and how we are best able to support our members. It’s opened up a wide range of opportunities for us in supporting older people in the communities which we serve and we can’t wait to welcome more members and volunteers to help us create even more friendships among older people living.

“Our work has always been about alleviating loneliness and isolation and our work has never been as important as it is now in making sure older people don’t become even more isolated as a result of Covid-19.

“As a charity we are about bringing people together to help them live later life well and helping create communities wherever we are based. It felt that, at this stage in the pandemic, that we reflected that in our name and work with people who live independently in their own home but who need support in alleviating loneliness and isolation.”

To learn more about MHA Communities, please visit our Communities webpage >