Grant #130456 to Lewisham Donation Hub

 
Our Extra Care home residents would value and benefit from regular age-appropriate activity and exercise sessions in their care home setting in SE16. We have 80 residents who live there. We are looking at providing various creative activities/ Fall prevention/Steady and Stable exercise sessions/befrienders run by Age UK/NHS or other community projects  in the Lewisham area. On average an activity session can cost £40 per hour (with or without resources).  For example, a local digital charity have offered their digital support services to help a small group of 3-4 people per hour over 2 hours costing £40. 
Many of our residents have lost confidence about attending community activities due to covid, lack of confidence attending on their own, unable to use transport, unable to contribute towards a session or may have had a recent fall. We are looking to providing in-house exercise/movement and creative activity sessions that will help them both physically and their mental health by attending a social setting. We are mainly requesting funding due to the unpredictability of how many residents will turn up per session and also contribute towards paying. We also wish to be inclusive by offering paid for activities. Our members of staff will ensure that all resident that would benefit from a pre-aid activity will be able to attend. 
One important request is that we would  like to pay a regular befriender who could see 5-6 isolated residents for 30 minutes for once a week, over a cup of tea.
We have had volunteers in the past to run activities and as you can appreciate their circumstances may change at any time and they may no longer be able to proceed. The on-going food/energy crisis has also meant that many residents are reluctant to spend money on activities. I have outlined what we would very much appreciate towards activities:
 - Exercise sessions/movement £40 x 10 weeks
 - Digital  session 2-hour sessions £40 x 10 weeks
 - Befriender for 4 hours per week £48  x 10 weeks 
 - Ad hoc/Commemorative activity creative session e.g. Ramadan art session, Coronation decoration session, quizzes, karaoke etc. £40 x 10 weeks 
 - Resources (arts and crafts) £10 x 10 weeks 
The  Activity Co--Ordinator would account and log all activity payments and receipts and ensure that all payments are spent within the remit. 
Thank you for your consideration  for this grant request and I would be happy to answer any questions.