Derwen awarded funding for new project to tackle loneliness
The Postcode Community Trust have awarded Derwen £9996 worth of funding to develop a project that will directly tackle loneliness and isolation suffered by residents living in the Treberth/Bishpool areas of Newport.
Called “Derwen Links”, the innovative project will be resident-led and will involve staff getting out and about in the community listening to resident’s ideas and talking to them about how they can get involved. It is also a fantastic opportunity to increase the use of the community hub.
Vic Mills, Derwen’s Active Ageing Co-ordinator is really excited to get the project started, she said
“It is totally resident-led so we are really looking forward to finding out exactly what residents want for their local community, their community hub, and helping them to achieve it!”
Loneliness and isolation are issues that seriously impact on the health and wellbeing of older people in Wales. Ageing Well in Wales research states that “loneliness has an effect on mortality that is similar in size to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It is associated with poor mental health and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dementia. Loneliness also has a much wider public health impact too, as it is associated with a number of negative health outcomes including mortality, morbidity, depression and suicide as well as health service use”.
