MHA Loneliness and Isolation Appeal

idc has been working with MHA for five years, providing top quality dairy products and fresh fruit and vegetables to their care homes. We are delighted to continue our partnership by supporting their Loneliness and Isolation Appeal.

MHA has historically been a community organisation and is dedicated to connecting people both in care homes and in the community, through a wide and varied range of social activities from lunch clubs to yoga sessions.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, some of the most vulnerable people have been asked to isolate. Their level of interaction with one another and the outside world has been dramatically reduced. It has had a greater effect on those with reduced mobility challenges and people living with dementia, leaving them feeling frustrated and lonely when contact is reduced, and independence taken away.

Nikul Patel, Corporate Partnerships Manager at MHA, told us, “This is where the inspiration for our appeal comes from, we are determined to step up our game and further support older people in this time of need. There are many activities that we can provide within the restrictions and guidelines to support residents, members and local communities.”

These activities include funding telephone befriending and regular wellbeing calls, shopping assistants in the local community and online activities. Some of these are totally new activities, created to meet the specific needs of those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and some provide added levels of support to existing offerings.

Nikul says, “We don’t know how long the coronavirus pandemic will affect our society, but we are preparing for social isolation and social distancing to last a long time. We know the confidence of our members is going to take time to rebuild and there are going to be lots of older people who are scared, anxious and worried about integrating back into society. We are adding these new options into the services we offer to residents and members, in order to reconnect our communities over the long term.”

We are proud to be a small part of this worthwhile initiative. David Grint, CCO: “The pandemic has affected us all, but it is the elderly who are most at risk right now – not only from infection but also from isolation. This initiative by MHA is a truly good thing and we are very pleased to be in a position to provide support to the Loneliness and Isolation Appeal over the course of the next twelve months.”

You can find out more about the appeal here: https://www.mha.org.uk/give