Live at Home works to tackle and address the impact of social isolation and loneliness on the mental and physical wellbeing of the Isle of Man’s older generation. They are ensuring the elderly (not just their members) have access to all the information and support they want and need via mailshots, a freephone number, a befriending service, as their research showed that 77% of their 500 members did not have access to wifi or the internet at home.
Funding from the Scheinberg Relief Fund has enabled the charity to concentrate wholly on looking at adapting their work specifically to support members during the pandemic. Rather than having to allocate resources to identifying and accessing funding streams to ensure the organisation survives, they have been able to focus all their resources on directly supporting older people. Live at Home has become the principal point of contact and support for the elderly. They are directly supporting 361 people with regular telephone calls, significantly reducing the demand being placed on other island’s numbers and services which are overstretched.”