Helping our older neighbours stay warm, active, healthy and connected this winter

Please note: this post is 122 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Winter can be a deeply isolating time for older people. Short, cold days, icy conditions, unpredictable snowfall, high food and fuel bills and reduced interaction can massively increase immobility, loneliness and anxiety - perpetuating social isolation and increasing morbidity and mortality amongst an already vulnerable group.

That's why, for the past 3 years, North London Cares has run ambitious, dynamic campaigns to help our older neighbours stay warm, active, healthy and connectedduring the most difficult time of the year. Working in partnership with Islington and Camden Councils, Age UK and the many other voluntary groups and businesses that make up the community, we're proud of the contribution these projects have made. Along with the Social Clubs and Love Your Neighbour projects, they've now become an integral part of our work.

During those 3 years, North London Cares' winter projects have:

• Knocked on 8,900 doors across Camden and Islington to introduce the campaign to our neighbours;

• Delivered hundreds of blankets, coats, jumpers, socks and cold and carbon monoxide alarms to pensioners;

• Connected some 500 people to various Council services - for advice on home improvement, benefits and boilers;

• Distributed £7,200 in small grants to help people with increased winter bills;

This winter, we're once again working together with local authorities, healthcare providers, businesses, local community organisations and our pool of volunteers, to reassure our older neighbours that they're not on their own, to identify isolation where it occurs, and to connect people to a host of activities, interactions, services and information points so that they can help reduce loneliness, improve wellbeing, and so that we can bridge the gaps across social and generational divides in our sometimes anonymous capital city.

Through a varied, dynamic programme of door knocking, information dissemination, one-to-one volunteer support, multi-organisation referrals, small grants and attractive social activities, the project will connect with thousands of older neighbours, and match hundreds to various local support networks to help people meet their social and emotional needs holistically, so that they can stay well in spite of the bitter weather.

At the moment, we're still planning the campaign, which will begin in earnest at the start of December. But we already have some special volunteer sessions planned - and we'd love you to join us. Whether or not you've volunteered with North London Cares before (or indeed with any community group!) we'd really like as many people as possible to be part of the project this year.

In particular, we need door-knockers - friendly faces to join our organised teams, reaching out to people, introducing the various aspects of the project, talking about the issues, and finding out how we can help.

If you can spare 2 or 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon to help us speak to as many neighbours as possible, please do let us know. Either sign up using the form on the right hand side of this page, or email [email protected]. We will need people during weekdays to help us rack up the numbers, but we also have weekend sessions planned especially so we can deploy teams of volunteers, on:

• December 13th
• January 17th
• January 31st

Please do let us know if you can help out. For now we just need to speak to you so we can let you know a little more, and ask you to hold a date or two in your diary. We will then give you more information closer to the time. Let us know if you can make it - andfeel part of the community.