PR Scotland supporting elderly care initiative.

A new evening support service for older people in East Dunbartonshire has been praised by the carers which caught the attention of Mature Times.

Bield’s Whitehill Day Care and Short Breaks Centre in Kirkintilloch started the out-of-hours initiative for older people living with dementia in October after it was awarded a five figure grant from Shared Care Scotland.

A range of activities and outings are available for elderly people, from gentle exercise and crafts to theatre trips and dining out, which gives their carers much-needed relief between long hours caring for an older person with dementia.

So far twelve carers have used the service including Linda Anderson who is one of the carers who has benefitted from Bield’s Whitehill Evening support service after caring for her elderly mother for almost six years.

Linda said: ““I cannot express enough the tremendous impact that the introduction of the evening service has made to the quality of my free time.

“This free time allows me to have a leisurely visit around the shops but also more importantly lets me see friends or visit family which is virtually impossible these days, as I am effectively house-bound looking after my mum.”

Bield’s Whitehill Day Care and Short Breaks centre recently won the cabinet-backed Customer Service Excellence Award after several months of hard work by the team.

Bield – a registered charity – has grown from humble beginnings, starting out with one housing development in Bo’ness to become a major provider of a wide range of housing and services for around 20,000 older people across 22 local authority areas.

The full coverage can be read on the Mature Times website and was secured on behalf of Bield thanks to an ongoing PR in Scotland campaign with Holyrood PR.