Day care centre in plea for volunteers (From Cotswold Journal)

Day care centre in plea for volunteers

2:30pm Saturday 20th October 2012 in News By Freya Leng

A WINCHCOMBE charity which provides vital day care support for the elderly and frail is appealing for volunteers.

Helpers are needed to support the team at Winchcombe Day Care Centre during its opening hours from 10am to 3.30pm on Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays.

The centre on Langley Road provides activities and meals for up to 24 people a day.

Manager Carol Baker, a former nurse, said she was in desperate need of practical support.

“We have some part-time staff and drivers who are brilliant, but we rely heavily on volunteers and those numbers have dwindled a lot in recent years,” she said.

“We really need a good influx of new volunteers and it would be great to see some younger people.

“We are a unique caregiving charity that serves its own community and although we always receive great support when fundraising, what we really need now is practical help.” Car drivers are also needed to help ferry some housebound members to and from the centre at the start and end of the day.

The majority of members are from the Winchcombe and surrounding community and many are elderly, disabled, housebound or have mobility issues.

The Day Care Centre was set up in 1984 by the late Bob Adlard, the retired owner of the former Evans Adlard Paper Mill at Postlip, now Hollingsworth and Vose, to support the lonely and housebound in Winchcombe.

After a community fundraising campaign in June 1993, it moved into a purpose- built, modern new centre on the same site.

For details or to offer help, call 01242 603207.