Transcript of
Local community support schemes
(narrator) In London's borough of Southwark
a social revolution is taking place.
And it's changing people's lives.
It's being spearheaded by the not-for-profit company,
the Southwark Circle.
Ryan Lang is one of the Circle's three staff.
He's been with it since it started two years ago.
Very simply, Southwark Circle is a membership organisation
for anybody over 50 who lives in Southwark.
Effectively, it plugs people back in to practical and social networks
that might be missing from their lives at the moment.
(narrator) Basically, it's about reconnecting people,
helping them to help each other.
People like Ivy and John Douglas.
(Ivy) Do you want a coffee or would you like tea?
I was thinking, if we've got some of that whisky that Pat bought us...
- (laughs) John! - There's a lot of it.
He came up with...
(narrator) They've been married for over 40 years.
(Ivy) He's totally mad. (laughs)
(narrator) Ivy, who's 71, has become a full-time carer for John,
who's now 79.
(John) We're made for each other, so...
We'd do anything for each other, wouldn't we?
- Wouldn't we? - (Ivy) Yes, darling.
(narrator) It was life-changing and at times traumatic.
At first, Ivy turned to helplines. She certainly found them a great help.
But then she found out about the Southwark Circle,
and this is how it works.
- Hello. - Hi, Ivy. How are you doing? Alright?
- Yes. Come on in. - Thank you very much.
Eric, this is my problem. You see there's mould getting behind that...
(narrator) Eric is one of 70 volunteer helpers with the Circle.
Ivy needs help regrouting her kitchen.
He's a freelance photographer, but in his spare time
his DIY skills can be called on by other Circle members.
(Eric) So, first thing we need...
(Ryan) She will call us, say what she wants doing, when she'd like it done.
We would then get in contact with a helper who lives nearby
and who has the requisite level of skill
and arrange for them to go round at a time that Ivy chooses
and carry out whatever it is that she wanted doing.
(Eric) We should, fingers crossed, be able to do it in one go.
(Ivy) The practical side is important
because there's nobody else around to help me to do
little DIY jobs that I'm not able to.
It puts it on a personal basis, whereas if you get a tradesman from outside...
- It's safety. - Yes. Yes.
If you get a tradesman from outside, it's a different relationship, isn't it?
(Eric) Essentially, I'm kind of visiting people
two days a week, visit after visit after visit.
And that can be anything like helping out with DIY stuff,
as we've done with Ivy, or it can be doing some IT stuff.
(narrator) As well as practical help, the Circle organises social events.
Here it's a games afternoon at a local pub.
(woman) It's very useful
because a lot of older people are lonely and at home.
I think it's great.
(narrator) The Circle is for everyone,
but housebound carers find it particularly useful.
(man) This is the first time that I've been.
I only just joined last week. I'm a carer.
So I don't get out a lot,
so it's nice, you know, just to come out and have a break and go to the theatre.
(Ryan) So it might be trips out to the theatre, meals in local restaurants,
it might be a trip to the ballet.
It's something to look forward to, you know.
There's so many trips, you know, it will make a lot of difference.
(Ivy) There's a lot of isolated people in London.
And this is an easy, pleasant way
to start making contact with people outside yourself.
(Ryan) What we see are that there's huge numbers of carers out there
who aren't always receiving services, who are doing things on their own.
(Eric) I think as a concept it's fantastic.
Because it is that... It's community can help itself,
I suppose, it's that whole wartime spirit thing, isn't it?
It's kind of looking after each other, making sure your neighbour's OK.
(narrator) Membership is ten pounds and then you buy tokens.
They're ten pounds or less, depending on how many you buy.
You can use them for social events to get a discount
or, as I said, for practical things.
And it's one token regardless of what it is that you want doing.
It's an hour of helpers' time.
(narrator) Two more Circles are already up and running
in other parts of the country, and more are being planned.
(Ryan) I think we've seen that there's a huge appetite out there
to help each other out, to get to know people who live close to you,
to use the skills you've got for the benefit of other people.
(narrator) And for carers like Ivy and John...
We couldn't manage without Southwark Circle.
They come to us whenever it's necessary.
We just couldn't do without them. It's quite as simple as that.
As I say, it is nice to come out now and again.
