ALDI CARLUKE

Charlies Old Codgers Foundation obtained charity status in 2017 and our main aim was to help elderly individuals in Scotland have a more enriched and posiiive outlook, thus reducing mental health issues and encouraging a more positive attitude to everyday life to overcome loneliness and isolation Our aims where to visit care homes, hospices and hospital residents with their pets to give them comfort and a chat when at their lowest. We engage in many activities: Charlies Time to Talk:: Morning/afternoon get togethers to discuss anything of interest to all participants Charlies Hear to Listen: musical or tv/radio shows of old, bringing back memories and stimulating the brain Charlies Tasty Bites: Remembering old recipes that conjure up memories from yester-year Charlies Seated Strictly: Dance moves whilst sitting, great fun and lots of exercise During lockdown things were unusually difficult for us keeping in touch so we also began (and will carry on) visiting, shopping and 24/7 phone line chatting with individuals who couldn't leave home or residential care. Thus creating a local community care scheme for all. Although we operate from the Scottish borders farmhouse, we cover the whole of Scotland. we identify those in need through word of mouth from gp surgeries, hospices, care homes and individuals. We are currently the only charity of this kind operating in Scotland. There is no charge for our services, we work strictly on donations Due to safety for elderly individual;s, we have no photographic evidence or names we provide. The food is (when on or past it's sell by date - which is only a day at most) brought back to the charity and given to the animals. As previously mentioned the food is mainly salad or fruit items. Sometimes there are flowers left over (Mothers Day for instance) and these are taken to the care homes and hospices.

We are based at Lanark Family Support Hub, North Vennel Lanark. We work with all families who access our services and welcome referrals from other agencies and services as well as self-referrals from individuals and families. We have a no wrong door approach. We can offer support to children and families through providing 1 to 1 individual support and also offer group work for parents focusing on healthy eating/cooking, child development, health and well-being and family learning. We offer a whole variety of programmes which include family learning, individual family support, programmes to support with managing children's challenging behaviour, cooking groups, programmes for parents and children and health and well-being groups. We do not charge service users to access any of our supports, services or groups. Food will be given to vulnerable families that we work with who are experiencing poverty and cost of living crisis. This will be given out when doing home visits. Food will be accessible to vulnerable families and young people who are using the hub for 1:1 support and group work. Food may also be used during groupwork to demonstrate healthy cooking on a budget. We will be working with about 100 families on a weekly basis.

Our school has a nursery class and 6 primary classes. We currently have 28% of our children living in SIMD 1&2 and 24% in receipt of Free School Meals. However, we are becoming more aware of the fact that these are not necessarily the most accurate measures of what families are living in poverty. We are concerned about the rising cost of living and the impact we will see during the winter when energy costs are increased again. There is a local foodbank, but it is not in Carnwath and therefore makes it difficult for our families to access. We have an established 'sharing shed' within the school that we will keep stocked with basic food and household items. The idea would be that parents and other members of the community can visit the shed to donate or to take what they need. We are keen to facilitate a real opportunity for our community to support everyone in it as and when the support is required. We work closely with the local Community Council to support everyone that needs it in Carnwath.