New centre offers help to the elderly

Press, 8 May 1986, Page 18

New centre offers help to the elderly

No more frosty morning huddles around the office heater for Canterbury Aged People’s Welfare Council staff. They are about to shift into the council's new building on the corner of Cashel Street and Cambridge Terrace. Four storeys tall, the new complex will house the central offices of the council, as well as provide storage room for the council’s hobby organisers, and a drop-in centre, complete with lounge and kitchen for the elderly. The ground floor accommodates a jigsaw library, reception area, and a small office. The larger part of the ground floor is taken up by the lounge area which, if needed, can be divided by folding doors for two separate rooms for hobby or fitness classes for the elderly. The lounge, or drop-in centre, is situated on the ground floor for easier access for the elderly, many of whom dislike stairs and lifts. The second floor is largely devoted to the administration office space for the council. The two remaining floors will be let to

tenants as office space. It is from this that the council hopes to get the income to fund the entire complex. The building cost SI.2M to construct, the bulk of the funds provided for by the sale of the council land beside the new building. Altogether, the sale added $680,000 to the building fund. The remainder of the sum came from legacies left to the council which the New Zealand Lottery Board subsidised on a one to one basis.

“Now that the Lottery Board has ceased subsidising us we have to find a way of supporting ourselves,” said Mr Webb, the manager of the complex. "Putting all our money into this building is a step of faith. Hopefully, we’ll be financially independent once this new centre is complete and debt-free. At that stage the income earned from leasing the top floors can then support the council’s continuing work with the elderly,” he said. The town complex will be run by an estimated 40 volunteers, without whom the centre would not be able to function. The council currently has 500 volunteers working for it throughout Christchurch, visiting the old or doing odd spots of gardening and home help. The council cares for the house-bound elderly

by taking them out once a month for an outing to different places. Hosts and hostesses then invite these people to their homes and put on afternoon or morning tea for them. “It would be nice if we could take these old people out more often, but when we only have two minibuses that seat a mere 18 each, and well over 200 elderly to care for, it’s pretty near impossible,” said Miss Jackie McDonnell, who organises the outings for the elderly.

The initial contact with the elderly is usually made by Mrs Gaynor Duff, a social worker, who visits the elderly who telephone the council for help. “The first telephone contact is most important, because what at first seems like a simple gardening job often turns out to be an attempt by the older person to get some help or companionship,” Mrs Duff said.

One of the major incentives for the new building was this feeling that many old people needed companionship. "The personal contact with other people at the drop-in centre is most important,” Mr Webb said. “It offers companionship, as well as a place to come to for a quiet cup of tea after the hassles of shopping in the busy city streets,” he said.