NEWS

An older person from Wetherby says weekly phone calls have given her the strength to keep going during the pandemic despite being isolated and housebound. The lady, who wishes to remain anonymous, began speaking to telephone befriender Christine Hardman from Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) when lockdown first hit last spring. She says the charity’s support has given her a vital lifeline during a time of incredible isolation, anxiety and stress. She said: “I started speaking to Christine soon after the first lockdown in March last year. I now speak to her every week and it’s something I’ve…

Wetherby’s leading older persons charity is urging residents to remember they are not alone, as it springs into action to support those who are shielding, vulnerable or needing help. Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) is again stepping up its key services to support people in Wetherby and Harewood, regardless of their age, during the third pandemic lockdown. The charity, which will act as an operational hub alongside local authorities, will work with local volunteers to help deliver food and medicine, plus carry out other important tasks to help vulnerable people cut off from the outside world. WiSE’s Chief…

A Wetherby older persons charity has been hand-picked for a special mayoral award after switching its services to support residents hit by the pandemic. Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) quickly stepped up to deliver food parcels, shopping and prescriptions to people of all ages, having had to suspend many of its much-loved older persons services when lockdown hit. Now local councillors have nominated the cause to be honoured for special recognition by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, as a way of thanking the charity’s army of volunteers for their kind-hearted work. Mark Dobson, Chief Operating Officer at WiSE,…

A Leeds charity says it has made its 4,000th wellbeing call, as it catalogues the thousands of interactions it’s made to keep older people safe during a pandemic plagued 12 months. The phone calls to isolated, older people are on top of more than 400 deliveries of food and medicine, 370 information and advice sessions and 800 telephone based befriending sessions Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) and its volunteers have completed since January. The charity says it’s also hosted 30 online line dancing sessions and produced 11 editions of an activity pack to help keep 110 older people…

A lifelong line dancer from Leeds has been lauded for charity lockdown lessons which have given a vital lifeline to dozens of isolated older people from across the city. Julie Clarkson, from Churwell, had been delivering weekly exercise classes for Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) for two years, before having to suspend face-to-face teaching when the pandemic first took hold in March. But since then she’s delivered more than 30 online sessions on behalf of the charity, which aims to improve the quality of life for the over 60s by providing community activities, information and support. Julie said:…