Survey of Good Neighbours' Exercise Classes

Good Neighbours gets funding for its weekly exercise sessions with the Getting Active Through Exercise (GATE) Project. These sessions take place on Mondays (1.30 pm),  Wednesdays (1.30pm) and Fridays at 10.00am.

In order to evaluate how useful these sessions are to participants Good Neighbours and GATE cooperated in carrying out a survey of those who attend these classes. A full report of this survey and those carried out at GATE funded exercise classes elsewhere in Manchester will be published late, but the initial findings from the CGN survey are now available

Nearly all the  replies gathered through the survey exercise were extremely positive, and has shown that the GATE project classes are a well received, popular service of benefit to the attendees of the classes taking place at Chorlton Good Neighbours. 54 filled in questionnaires out of a possible 65, which is a high response rate (84%)

Attendees ages ranged from 65 to 96, with the average age being 79 which shows you are never too old to exercise

One if four got to the sessions by transport provided by CGN, without which they would have been unable to attend. Many thanks to the volunteer drivers who make this possible

The respondents reported that as a result of attending the classes they had

• confidence in preparing or cooking a light meal (54%)
• increased confidence in walking round the house (53%)
• Confidence doing light housework (48%)
• Confidence going out to do light shopping (41%)

In order of importance they rated the following benefits of coming to the classes:

• greater flexibility (28%)
• spending time with others (17%)
• decreased joint pain (12%)
• greater confidence (11%)
• decreased muscle pain (8%)
• improved strength (7%)
• better sleep (6%)
• increased motivations and more energy (5%)

A large number of respondents have reported increased levels of activity, increased and prolonged mobility and increased confidence in their mobility levels, directly as a result of attending and participating in the GATE project exercise classes.

Also, a large number of respondents have reported that attending the classes has improved their sense of wellbeing, improved their social lives and helped combat feelings of isolation and loneliness. This anecdotal reporting of improved wellbeing and by default, improved mental health, cannot be underestimated and is extremely valuable information for both service providers and commissioners.

Primroses, seedlings and spent hops

Primroses, seedlings and spent hops

Another lovely Friday morning on Feb 15th 2013 in the Chorlton Good Neighbours garden plot.

The seedlings are coming on, the potatoes are chitting and we planted some primroses which give a bit of colour to the garden. The previous day we picked up some spent hops from the Dunham Massey brewery and we have spread them on the rather claggy soil near the raised beds. The 10x8 greenhouse has now been ordered so hopefull that will arrive in the next few weeks

The 5 Ways of Wellbeing - what are they?

Manchester City Council Directorate for Adults, Health & Wellbeing now requires all applicants for wellbeing funding for Adult Services to relate to the "5 Ways of Wellbeing" which relate to mental health. As the funding from the Council is important to keeping Good Neighbours going, we decided to ask some of our users and volunteers what they understood by the 5 terms which are supposed to become as familiar to us for mental wellbeing at the "5 fruit & veg per day" is for physical wellbeing


The five ways are summarised as:

• Connect – With people around you, family, friends the community.
• Be Active – By doing some form of physical exercise that you enjoy  and suits your level of mobility.  Exercising makes us feel good.
• Take Notice – Of the things around you and be aware of your feelings.  By beginning to take notice and savouring in the things we can often take for granted, pleasure can be found in the smallest of things.
• Keep Learning – Settings ourselves challenges that can give us a sense of achievement is important to wellbeing.
• Give – By helping a friend, a neighbour, being kind to a stranger or joining a community group it can give us a sense of purpose and be incredibly rewarding.   

This video gives some of the views of our members attending a coffee morning on Marc 8th 2012

Comments written up from this  "5 ways of wellbeing" session

Connect Meeting people Talking Helping eg shopping Walk Go to groups Looking after someone Caring Connect with Services, puts you in touch Memories & talking about them Socialise Enjoyment Advice Company Know help is available Connect with like- minded and new people Connect with organisations Local news & activities You are not  on your own We are all in the same boat together	Be Aware Walk as much as possible Exercising Of the ageing process Watch out for dodgy stuff Someone in need  or who is struggling Of services Danger: muggers, strangers, door to door salesmen Of the weather Shopping Outings Up and about
Take Notice Listen and learn from people Keep an eye on people Notice everything, what is going on Traffic Meeting people Notice when to put the bins out (and which ones) Go for long walks Friendship Respect Information Take care Know help is available	Keep Learning Never too old Join a class or course Reading Listen to music & the radio Listen to people Art classes & go to galleries Keep up with the news (be a part of the world you are in) Education classes (if you can get to them) Keeps  the brain active What is going on through newspapers Exchange ideas Notice own and others wellbeing Something new & new experiences
Give Give to charity, donations Give time Think of their needs Other people come first, those worse off than we are Lots stuck in their house Give small gifts	Give (continued) Smiling at people Give blood Help others (eg by shopping for them) You should not just take, but give Support people with problems Friendship & social support Sharing problems

Don's Exercise Class

Don OConnor's exercise Class at Chorlton Good Neighbours, Feb 17th 2012. This was the first part of a one hour exercise session, mainly seated, that Don holds every week for people mainly in their 70's, 80's and 90's

Chorlton Good Neighbours User survey

Chorlton Good Neighbours (CGN)  is a neighbourhood care group covering the Chorlton, Chorlton Park and Whalley Range areas of South Manchester. It was established in 1967 by local people and has evolved to become a well-established charity offering a range of services to local older people. It currently has over 250 users and 70 volunteers.This report analyses a survey of 76 of its users carried out by CGN care group in the Autumn of 2011. 


The full results of this survey can be viewed and downloaded from  http://goo.gl/cGWfX

The study conclude that as well as being centrally important to many people who use its services, Chorlton Good Neighbours also contributes considerably to their long term mental and physical wellbeing.  The findings illustrate that CGN:

·         Assists users in maintaining their independence;

·         Helps to reduce their social exclusion, depression and isolation;

·         Improves users physical and mental health ;

·         Provides access to useful, practical & regular information, advice and support;

·         Helps users to feel safe and secure in their community

·         Reduces the adverse impact of long-term conditions through health related activities and empower people to manage their own health

·         Provides opportunities for users  to participate and make a positive contribution to the community and retain their independence

         Percentage of Manchester residents who agree that their local area is 
“a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together"

Source: Manchester City Council  2006/07 Best Value Survey

Whilst it would be unrealistic to attribute feelings of cohesion and neighbourliness in Chorlton and Whalley Range just to the impact of CGN or even the role of older people generally (economic factors must play a significant role), it is interesting that Chorlton, Chorlton Park and Whalley Range came top of all the wards in Manchester in “getting on well together”. They are also at the top or close to the top in surveys of volunteering and attachment to the local area

Regardless of the statistics, we know that the service offered by CGN to both its users and its volunteers is highly valued. We realise that we cannot stand still and have to continually change to meet new social and economic conditions as well as changing needs of older people. One of the main benefits of the survey was to find out what has worked well and what less so, what new areas of activity should be explored and innovations implemented. The older men’s project is an example of this forward thinking. 

      However, it is also important o note the continuity of services offered by the care group. Core activities such as home visits, wheelchair support, coffee morning, Sunday teas and day tripsremain at the heart of what we deliver as they provide a haven of friendship and support – neighbourliness – which enrich the lives of all those involved with Chorlton Good Neighbours.

The Gardening Project gets started

On a lovely, sunny but very cold January morning, we got the Chorlton Good Neighbours gardening project under way. The idea is to reclaim a piece of land next to our offices and make it into a garden, sitting place and vegetable growing area. It will be great for all our users and volunteers, but it is especially targeted at getting more older men involved in the project. 

We have done some initial planning, but felt it was time to get out there and actually start clearing the ground. The video and photos are a record of our first go at clearing the plot

There were two views on the brambles - one was to blitz them and get rid of them altogether. The other was to tidy them up and  keep a patch of the brambles in a shady part of the garden to encourage wild life. Keeping some brambles won the day, for the time being, but made it clear that we needed to develop a clear plan on what we wanted to avoid confusion

The brambles, before and after tidying up

 

Clearing the weeds

There was also a discussion about the privet hedge with some thinking that it should be replaced by a fence as it is sometimes decribed as a 'noxious weed'. Others though were keen on keeping a trimmed hedge as providing cover for a number of beneficial insects and birds, so this argument won the day and the hedge stays.

Despite the cold weather, a lot of people turned up and it turned out to be a great day with plenty of breaks for cups of tea and lunch of Yvonne's leek & potato soup, plus bread

Curling at Chorlton Good Neighbours

Indoor game of curling in the Church Hall at Chorlton Good Neighbours, Jan 2012