We're on a mission to ensure that every single precious older person who lives with us enjoys living their later years to the fullest! A key part of how we achieve this is through our Activities and Community Engagement (ACE) Programme.
Almost all of our homes have an Activities and Community Engagement Facilitator, known as an ACE Facilitator or simply an ACE. Each ACE brings their own skills, talents, and personality to the role, so there is a wonderful, wide range of ACEs across our homes and housing schemes. What unites them all is that they are all Christians and dedicated to enriching every aspect of the lives of our 'family members', as we call those who choose to live with us.
Our ACEs oversee a varied programme of activities, featuring everything from daily devotions to games, crafts, and trips out. At the heart of our The Way We Care approach is a commitment to acknowledging that every person who lives with us is a unique individual, made by God, with their own needs and interests. Our ACEs prioritise taking the time to listen to our family members and to consider their ideas and preferences as they plan the home's social life.
Our ACEs can't do this alone. As well as working with staff colleagues, a major part of their role is to bring in volunteers. Volunteers contribute to the life of our homes in many different ways, such as leading devotions and services, playing the piano, supporting activities, running prayer meetings, helping out at events and trips out, or simply visiting and being a friendly face.
Many of our wonderful volunteers come from local churches where ACEs actively seek to build links. Having Christian volunteers is invaluable to ensuring that the older people living with us continue to have connection and fellowship with their wider spiritual family.
Volunteers come to us from all backgrounds and for lots of different reasons. We welcome those working towards the Duke of Edinburgh Award, as well as those looking to gain work experience while considering a career in social care or a field such as medicine or midwifery. Sometimes people come to us simply because they love spending time with older people and being part of the home, especially after they find they have more time in the season of mid-life or retirement. We also love it when volunteers share their skills and hobbies to help our family members have fun learning something new. Everyone is welcome!
If you are a local community group, school, or individual interested in volunteering with us, our ACEs would love to hear from you. Fill out the form below for your local home to get in touch for a chat about how you can get involved.
But it doesn't stop there. Living in a care home shouldn't mean losing contact with the rest of the world, and we know that relationships with people of all ages and stages from across the local community are vital for those who live with us. Our care homes are intentionally positioned as places of connection, and our ACEs facilitate the fun, life-giving activities and fellowship that help our family members to thrive.
From schools to Scout troops, from pre-school groups to pet therapy providers, we welcome everyone through our doors. Some may visit regularly; others may pop in to help mark different seasons or special days. Events like our summer and Christmas fairs are opportunities for members of the wider community to drop in and find out a little more about the care home on their doorstep.
To see more of what our ACEs get up to, you can follow the Facebook pages our ACEs oversee (to find a care home's Facebook page, search for it by name). Our ACEs also put together newsletters for our homes – sign up here.
As our ACE Programme evolves, we'd love our ACEs to make more connections with older people in their local communities, perhaps welcoming those who would benefit from attending a dementia café. Things are happening, so watch this space!
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