Local Caremark tackles loneliness with free coffee mornings and chair-based exercise

With figures stating that 49.63% of adults in the UK reported feeling lonely [1], Caremark Cheltenham and Gloucester – a local home care company – launched a free community initiative aimed at addressing the concern. Held at St Phillip and St James’ (Pip and Jim’s) Church, these monthly coffee mornings recently incorporated chair-based exercises to provide residents with much-needed opportunities to meet others and improve their health and wellbeing.

Earlier this year, the local home care business started hosting free coffee mornings with the aim of creating a warm and inviting environment where people can come together over coffee and cake and form new friendships. Following the initial success, the event expanded to include a chair-based exercise session led by Jo Folkes, joint Managing Director of Caremark Cheltenham and Gloucester and a qualified physiotherapist.

Michael Folkes, joint Managing Director of Caremark Cheltenham and Gloucester, explained how the free social event came to exist:

“Over 30% of people in Gloucestershire live alone [2], and some can go weeks or months with no real conversation. Social interaction and meaningful connections are a fundamental human need not to be underestimated – it’s something that’s essential for fostering a sense of belonging and a person’s emotional wellbeing. We visit people every day to provide care and support to those living on their own and we see a wealth of benefits that come from our companionship, so we decided to set up these coffee mornings.

“Our initial goal was straightforward: to bring local people together, help them make new friends, and to simply have a good chat in a relaxed setting. After the initial coffee morning success, we sat down as a team and discussed what else we could do for our community to improve wellbeing. As Jo is already an experienced physiotherapist, it was a no-brainer to incorporate an exercise element to boost wellbeing.”

Alongside being joint Managing Director, Jo Folkes is also Registered Care Manager for Caremark Cheltenham and Gloucester and runs the exercise part of the coffee mornings. She said:

“The recent addition of chair-based exercises has gone down really well and it’s great to be using my physio knowledge in this way. All the exercises we work through are simple to do but can really help to improve mobility and overall health – plus, we all have a bit of a laugh at the same time.

“Having seen the positive impact these classes have had so far, we’re going to introduce physiotherapy to our services in order to help more people optimise movement and hopefully regain some independence.”

Frances Hopwood, Events Coordinator at Caremark Cheltenham and Gloucester, commented on the event success:

“It’s been heartening to see people joining us each month and then return again and again. There’s even one person who travels over 45 minutes on their mobility buggy purely to enjoy everyone’s company here. Anyone wanting to join us is more than welcome to come along. We enjoy meeting people from all walks of life, play word games together, have a natter, and have a go at the exercises. It’s all very laid-back; the main thing is bringing people together.”

The next event will be on 12^th November between 10 am – 12 pm held at St Phillips and St James’ (Pip and Jim’s) Church, 60 Grafton Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2DD.