Who we are

Attend

Attend is a national charity that supports and expands the roles volunteers play in creating healthy communities.

Our Vision: We want to see a world of healthy communities supported by active individuals.

We believe that the world is a better place when no one feels like a “service user”. A world where everyone works together, and with a wider objective than just themselves, to build a better society for all. That may be a real cross-section of people together, such as with our member groups in hospitals, or one distinct community of interest, like our work supporting people with an acquired brain injury.

Our Purpose:  We support and expand the vital roles that volunteers play in creating healthy communities.

We believe that the “gift” relationship is really important in both shaping and supporting a healthy community. All our work has a gift relationship embedded in it, be it giving time, experience, or money. We believe that isn’t always easy for people, especially if they face challenges themselves and so we are particularly keen to support communities that are under-represented.

The Silver Santa project encapsulates everything about Attend, supporting local communities to offer a gift relationship to care home residents.

Friends of Care Homes

This project has its roots in the volunteering initiatives of Friends groups for over 50 years.

We began a pilot project which sees the Friends groups as one of the bridges between the local community and the care home.

Our embryonic project now sees us working in 20 or so care homes, and in each we have three key contributions:

• encouraging local people to give their time
• supporting a larger project that provides residents with a different opportunity than they might have had
• purchasing small items that really add value to daily activities for the residents.

We have had a number of projects which have focused on specific themes including residents with dementia, and the spiritual needs of residents,

The project thrives through the efforts of local Friends groups, and more of their particular stories can be followed at http://friendsofcarehomes.org.uk/