Stroud and Gloucester Crossroads – grant recipient - Barnwood Trust

Stroud and Gloucester Crossroads – grant recipient

Meeting the real needs of real families

Stroud and Gloucester Crossroads is part of a national organisation dedicated to supporting carers.

It runs a ‘caring for carers’ scheme, providing respite care to family carers, and it also has a contract with Gloucester County Council, helping people over 60 in the Stroud District area who need support to maintain their independence.

Alongside these activities, Barnwood Trust has funded a two-year project enabling Stroud and Gloucester Crossroads to provide a free night-sitting service.

‘People were asking for it. And that’s how you come up with ideas.’ says Manager Claire Kear; ‘if there’s nothing out there, why don’t we do it?’’

Benefits for carers and the cared-for

The night sitting service enables carers to have a night off; a chance to go out or simply to have a full nights’ sleep.

‘It’s that light at the end of the tunnel’ says Claire; ‘then they can come to it with a clear mind rather than coming to it tired and exhausted, so it’s more quality time they are able to spend with cared-for person.’

This means the whole family benefits.

A can-do culture

Care plans are flexible and can be tailored to clients’ individual needs.

And whilst Crossroads care staff are trained to provide personal rather than nursing care, they often work alongside district nurses or Macmillan nurses and help with administering medication.

The Crossroads approach is, wherever possible, for the care staff to do exactly what’s required; turning someone over in bed every two hours, helping them go to the bathroom, or simply listening out:

‘It is an individual care package’ says Claire; ‘We don’t say this is what we provide, you need to fit our box. We will fit their box. So if they want a cup of tea at 4 am that’s fine; that’s what we’ll provide.’

As essential contribution

Beneficiaries include families coping with terminal illness, dementia and other degenerative or long-term conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, who can either refer themselves or be referred by Social Services.

‘The feedback has been excellent’ says Claire; ‘People said it was an absolute Godsend; knowing that they had this night off. Knowing that they were able to sleep and switch off.’

Yet without the support from Barnwood Trust, the desire to provide a night sitting service may never have come to fruition:

‘Because our funding is stretched in the day we have no surplus’ says Claire; ‘the night service wouldn’t have happened without the support of Barnwood Trust.’

For more information about Crossroads, visit www.crossroads.org.uk

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