Age UK C&K and Locala Link Up
Published on 19 January 2018 11:05 AM
As part of Locala’s “Care Closer to Home” service, two Personal Independence Coordinators have been recruited and started their training at the end of February.
Claire Bellis
Claire will cover the North Kirklees area and can be contacted at cbellis@ageukck.org.uk or on 07814771830. Claire has recently returned to Yorkshire after living in Ireland for 17 years. During that time, she’s held a number of roles supporting mental health programmes, as well as working with older people. Claire managed the Care and Repair programme for Age Action Ireland for four years and is delighted to have found a
role supporting older people in Yorkshire. A keen baker and folk music fan, Claire is really looking forward to getting to know colleagues once she is out and about in the role!
Gunita Benjamin
Gunita will cover the Greater Huddersfield area and can be contacted at gbenjamin@ageukck.org.uk or on 07814771711. Gunita has 25 years experience in banking, covering a wide range of services and products. More recently Gunita has enjoyed her role working with adults experiencing learning challenges and complex needs. In her spare time, Gunita gets a great deal of joy and satisfaction facilitating wellbeing workshops and conducting one on one life coaching sessions to diverse groups and individuals. Gunita is passionate about helping people improve the quality of their life and is looking forward to the difference this role will make.
Personal Independence Coordinators
The purpose of the role is to enable older people to stay at home and to keep independent as long as possible. Providing support, advice and information through coaching, Claire and Gunita hope to prevent older people being unnecessarily admitted to hospital or residential care. Working as part of Locala’s District Nursing team, they’ll receive referrals from clinical staff and hope to build up a healthy caseload pretty quickly.
Dementia Friendly
Both Claire and Gunita have recently trained as Dementia Friends Champions, and can give information sessions on dementia. These one hour sessions are lively and informative, and spread five key messages to allow people to better understand dementia and how they can help those who have it. So please get in touch if you would like Claire or Gunita to arrange a session in your area!