ExtraCare Partners with Cruse Bereavement Care

Cruse Bereavement Care is delighted to have been awarded £699,000 from the Big Lottery Fund for a five year Bereavement Supporter Project to improve bereavement support for older people, including those with dementia, in sheltered housing.

The project will be delivered in partnership with The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, a registered charity which operates 31 retirement villages and housing schemes and supports 4,400 older people including those living with dementia.

Anne Townsend, Deputy Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted that with this funding we will be able to extend the services we are able to provide to older people more generally as well as specifically to those with dementia in sheltered housing. Over the last few years concerns about the needs of people with dementia and how to support them has been raised and this project will allow Cruse with its partnership with ExtraCare to extend its work with this vulnerable group of people.”

The Bereavement Supporter project will support the Charity’s residents by:

• Raising awareness of how bereavement affects older people’s mental and physical health
• Improving access to support for bereaved older people in sheltered and retirement accommodation
• Encouraging self-help and peer support in order to reduce loneliness and social isolation
• Contributing to safeguarding and promotion of long term mental and physical health.

Shirley Hall, Well-being and Community Manager for The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, said: “We understand how grief and loss can present barriers to older people living a healthy and active life, and we are certain that being able to offer additional assistance at such a difficult time will make a positive difference to many of our residents’ lives. We also welcome the opportunity to work with Cruse specifically around the experience of grief for people living with dementia and continue our previously recognised work in this area.”

The Bereavement Supporter Project will initially start at Pannel Croft Village in Newtown, Birmingham which provides 180 affordable homes, care and well-being services and a community lifestyle for local older people.

For more information:

Cruse Bereavement Care

Cruse Bereavement Care is the leading national charity providing bereavement support services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
We have over 50 years’ experience reaching over 100,000 each year. We support anyone who has been bereaved wherever or however the death has occurred. Cruse offers face-to-face, group, telephone, email and website support. Ensuring that we provide somewhere to turn when someone dies.
All our services are delivered by trained bereavement volunteers throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as our National Helpline.
The Freephone Helpline number is 0808 808 1677
Our main website is www.cruse.org.uk
Follow us on twitter @crusecare or facebook Cruse Bereavement Care
For any other information about Cruse please contact annabel.phelps@cruse.org.uk or the press phone 07904 662001

ExtraCare Charitable Trust

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust (www.extracare.org.uk) enables older people to enjoy a healthier, happier and more independent future by integrating their homes, care and lifestyle.

ExtraCare is a registered charity based in Coventry. It operates 4,020 homes within 14 retirement villages and 17 smaller housing schemes. Each village or scheme has 5 to 18 social, health and leisure facilities that are accessible to more than 4,400 residents, 3,000 volunteers and local people representing all age groups living in surrounding communities. Around 60 Charity Shops help fund care and well-being services for older people living in its villages and schemes.

Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It puts people in the lead to improve their lives and communities, often through small, local projects. It is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Every year it invests over £650 million and awards around 12,000 grants across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes. Since June 2004 it has awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people.

More information can be found at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk