Age UK Medway

Who We Help, Why We Help & the Difference It Makes

What We Do

Information and Advice

We can help you with:

• Welfare benefits/form filling
• Housing issues
• Gas and electricity bills
• Aids and adaptations
• Care at home
• Residential care
• Health
• Discrimination
• Leisure and social activities
• Family and personal matters
• Other local services

And most other things that affect your quality of life. If we can’t help you, we can put you in touch with people who can.

Call In Time

Living on your own can be hard to adapt to - particularly if you've been used to sharing your home or time with others. Not having someone to talk to regularly can be lonely and isolating. And that's when a friendly chat on the phone can make all the difference.

Call in Time is a free telephone friendship service run by Age UK. Since 2005 the service has matched hundreds of older people with trained and supported volunteers who, together these pairings enjoy a weekly conversation about anything from the weather, to what's been happening in both of their lives. Our volunteers and the people they call often become firm friends in the process. These calls provide a valuable ongoing weekly telephone contact to develop a trusted friendship, which will last a lifetime. As well as friendship calls, we also provide Good Day calls. These calls can provide a little extra reassurance when you're on your own - especially at times when you most need it, such as when you've just come home from hospital or experienced a bereavement.

If you need us to, we can give you a short call several times a week, at a time that suits you, just to make sure you're OK. These Good Day calls are made for a period of eight weeks. But if you think you might need them to be extended, we may be able to arrange that too. If you think that you or someone you know could benefit from Call in Time, please download the referral form, or call the number below to speak or speak to a member of our Call in Time team on 0800 434 6105. Download a referral form

Day Services

Age UK Medway operate two day centres in Gillingham and Strood. The Chris Ellis Centre covers the Rochester, Strood, Cuxton, Cliffe and Hoo Peninsula. The Mackenney Centre covers Gillingham, Rainham and Chatham areas. The centres provide social interaction for people over 50 and living in Medway. Transport is available, using our fleet of adapted accessible minibuses.

For a one off charge you can expect a full day including tea, coffee, refreshments and lunch, as well as a variety of events and activities. Our menu comprises a freshly prepared two course lunch, using ingredients sourced from local independent suppliers. There is a range of activities on offer during the day, including arts and crafts, cooking, reminiscence groups, board games, bingo and quizzes. Both centres boast accessible gardens where you can enjoy some fresh air, or maybe a little light gardening activity. Within the centres we have a small shop selling sweets, chocolate and toiletries. Other services available include foot care, hairdressing, hearing aid clinics and visiting optician. We are able to offer an in-house bathing service, where you can bathe in safety in our accessible bathroom supported by trained care staff.

Supplementary to activities in the centres we provide a wide range of day and afternoon outings, including trips to the seaside, theatre, boat trips and pub lunches. These day trips are bookable in advance, and offer a door to door service with support available throughout the day from our staff and volunteer team. Throughout the year we provide various day and evening events with visiting performers providing entertainment. We have a trained staff team who are assisted by our volunteers, who provide invaluable support in a variety of areas in and around the building. We are able to offer taster sessions for those people interested attending the centre, where you can visit for a couple of hours, or even a full day.

The Chris Ellis Centre: 01634 724745
The Mackenney Centre: 01634 380195
Email: [email protected]

For more information on our services: Our Services Leaflet 2018.pdf (PDF, 708 KB)

Homecare Services

Our friendly teams in Medway and Faversham are here to help you with all your care needs. We treat each person as an individual by offering a personalised service, to support people with the same respect you would want for yourself or a member of your family. We offer a full range of care, assisting with:

• All personal care needs
• Breakfast calls
• Lunch and tea calls
• Assisting to bed

We also provide check calls, prompt medication, shopping and domestic calls across both Medway and Faversham. Age UK Medway operates a community bathing service. The service provides the required level of assistance to allow people to have a bath or shower safely in their own home. If you are interested in receiving more information about our Homecare services please give us a call on 01634 401099 for our Medway team, or 01795 506490 for our Faversham team. All information discussed is dealt with in the strictest confidence. Please note: Age UK Faversham Homecare Services has now joined with Age UK Medway.

Community Bathing Service 

The Community Bathing Service provides people who use the service with the level of assistance required to enable them to have a bath or shower safely in their own home. 

Garden Maintenance by Beetlestone's

Age UK Medway are proud to announce that we are in partnership with Beetlestone's Garden Maintenance. Here at Age UK Medway we're always getting asked whether or not we know a gardener or if we ourselves do any gardening services, which until now we had to say that no we don't. However we've now partnered with Beetlestone's garden maintenance to give you yet another trustworthy service. Prices for the service on average start at £20 per hour plus the cost of any materials used, Beetlestone's specialise in grass cutting, hedge cutting, turfing, lawn care, planting schemes and garden design meaning there are plenty of services they can help you with. If you need help with your garden give them a call on 01634 317122

Handy Van

Age UK Medway’s community Handy Van service has been in operation since the end of 2014. During that time the community handy man Tony Kenna and his team have carried out a wide range of home maintenance jobs, ranging from small jobs like key safe fitting, to garden clearance and decorating. The service provides a vetted handyman to undertake small maintenance jobs in and around the house. The cost of the service is £24 per hour or £140 for a day, plus the cost of any materials used, with initial home visits and quotations being FREE of charge. In July 2015 the Handy Van service joined Medway Council’s Fair Trader scheme following a successful audit by Trading Standards, so you know you're in safe hands.

Below are some of the jobs the Handy Van can assist you with:

• Fitting hand and grab rails
• Home security (key safes, door chains, window locks)
• Path clearance
• Small decorating jobs
• Minor repairs
• Garden clearance jobs
• Fitting smoke alarms
• Moving and assembling furniture

If you would like to request a visit for a job please do so using one of the methods below.

Email: [email protected] or Phone: 01634 572616  For more information on our services see Our Services Leaflet 2018.pdf (PDF, 708 KB)

Dementia Services

The dementia drop in service is run from our Capstone Day Centre, it aims to allow families to have the option of a small amount of respite in a flexible way. You can book a slot with the Day Centre where we can help engage with the client to stimulate them and help keep their minds active without the need to sign up to the Day Centre. Click here to find out more about the service.

Flexible Dementia Outreach

The Flexible Dementia Outreach service is designed to enable individuals who are experiencing the early stages of a cognitive illness to be supported. By pursuing their interests, taking part in meaningful activities and maintaining their independence.

COGS Clubs 

Age UK Medway run COGS Clubs four times a week in four different locations across Medway, and are designed to help those that may be experiencing problems with their memory. COGS Clubs offer a day of activity for people with mild dementia or memory concerns, with each session based on cognitive stimulation therapy. The groups provide the opportunity to recall and/or develop new skills, and to facilitate the transfer of these skills into the home environment. During the day, members are encouraged to participate in purposeful activities and to develop or maintain active minds. 

Contact us 

• Capstone Dementia Centre, Chatham 01634 406058 
  
• The Chris Ellis Centre, Strood 01634 724745 
  
• The Mackenney Centre, Gillingham 01634 380195  
  

Community Foot Care

In January 2015 Age UK Medway launched a new community foot care service, after the success of providing a well-loved foot care at our day centres. If you're over 50 foot care becomes even more important, as age takes its toll, your skin thins, your joints begin to stiffen and your feet become more vulnerable to the cold. Not to mention the added difficulty from failing eyesight! It's because of this the Community Foot Care service was introduced as a way of helping older people keep those pesky toenails in check. It isn't normal to have painful feet, and you shouldn't have to put up with it. Investing a bit of time and thought into caring for your feet now, can prevent them causing you pain. Listed below is what we can assist you with:

• Cutting and filing toe nails, keeping them at a comfortable length
• Smoothing and moisturising dry and rough skin
• Checking for cracks and breaks in the skin, and inflammation such as blisters
• Looking for signs of infection like nail fungus or other obvious early problems, and seeking professional advice
• Choosing suitable socks and footwear
• Helping to cut finger nails

The service operates between the hours of 09:00am and 13:00pm - one happy customer has said "it's like walking on air!" If you would like to know more about community foot care please call us on 01634 401099. For more information on our services see: Our Services Leaflet 2018.pdf (PDF, 708 KB)

The Welfare Fund

We are proud to announce the launch of our new Welfare Fund! Age UK Medway are keen to combat loneliness in Medway for older people, and realise that often the obstacles to social inclusion can include people having sufficient funds to get involved in community activities. By launching the Welfare Fund, we hope that those older people in Medway who want to get out and about, to join in and begin to build social networks, will be supported to do so, despite any financial challenges they might have. The fund is intended to jump start a person’s involvement in social activities through one of Age UK Medway’s many centres or services across the Medway Towns, and the charity will work with people to secure longer term funds to support continued involvement. hjklg;# .0It is important for us to be able to offer truly charitable services in a very difficult climate for our beneficiaries, and is important for us to help end loneliness amongst older people.

The Welfare Fund has been designed to help those who are under temporary financial hardship access our services, whilst our Information and Advice team help you to gain access to any additional funds that you are entitled to. Financial awards are made according to the level of need and level of access to services being sought, and are designed to fill gaps left by temporary financial difficulties. The funding available is limited to £500 maximum which is equivalent to two days attendance at a mainstream day centre for 6 weeks. Applications are limited to one per person in a 12 month period, but further funding may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Applications to the Welfare Fund are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis, i.e. there is no awarding window or application deadline - applications are invited at any time. An application form must be completed to apply for the fund, you can download this by clicking here. You can also call Head Office on 01634 572616 to have one posted to you, or you can collect one from any of our Day Centres. Please note that the form includes a permission to allow Age UK Medway staff to act on your behalf to secure additional funding/income to alleviate your financial hardship. All applicable sections must be completed and signed, and then return your form to: The Welfare Fund, Age UK Medway, The Admirals Offices, Main Gate Road, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TZ For more information on our services see: Our Services Leaflet 2018.pdf (PDF, 708 KB)

Membership Scheme 

Become a member of Age UK Medway and unlock exciting benefits and offers. Not only will you receive discounts on services at our Day Centres, you can also stop by for lunch and a chat with others. You will receive an extensive membership pack containing information and news about our services, special offers and much more. Being a member also entitles you to attend organised and varied day trips, from lunch at a brewery to a nice seaside retreat. We offer two types of memberships. A full membership unlocks all of the above and a supporting membership for friends and family that wish to accompany you on a trip. Members should be aged 50 and over and living in Medway, whereas supporting members can be of any age, wanting to support our work through fundraising and raising community awareness of the challenges of getting older. Full Member Benefits 

• A twice yearly magazine 
  
• Access to the 200 Club
  
• Able to access organised day and afternoon trips
  
• Access to subsidised services (i.e footcare, hairdressing and lunch at the Day Centre when booked in advance) 
  
• Invitations to social and fundraising events 
  
• Exclusive access to hire Age UK Medway centres (evening and weekends only)
  

Day Trips

Our day centre clients are given fantastic opportunities every day, one of these is the ability to go on our day trips. But we've decided it's not only our clients that should be allowed all of the fun but our members to, which is why we've made day trips available to all of our clients and members!

Volunteer

Volunteering Opportunities

Age UK Medway relies on volunteers to help us offer vital services in the local community. Would you like to lend a hand?

• Befriending Volunteers - Age UK Medway's befriending service is a fantastic way to directly help an older person, by providing free support for a couple of hours a week. Whereby a volunteer is paired with a client with similar interests.
  
• Charity Shop Volunteering - Volunteers are vital to the work that we do at our charity shop and we simply couldn't run it without them. Volunteering in our shop allows you the chance to interact with customers and to help them find what they need.
  
• Day Services Volunteering - Age UK Medway's Day Centres have got many opportunities, from driver escorts to helping hand out meals in the centre - there's a lot to do!
  
• Dementia Services Volunteering - Age UK Medway offer fantastic dementia care volunteering opportunities, from assisting in the Day Centres to sitting with clients and just seeing how you can really get stuck in.
  
• Information and Advice Volunteering - Age UK Medway's information and advice serivce is a great way to get involved, and makes a real difference to the older people living in Medway. The I&A team help clients to claim what their entitled to as well as being a friendly face.
  

Job and Apprenticeship Opportunities

The team at Age UK Medway is one that has been going for over 40 years. This means that over those 40+ years we've built up a high quality team of paid staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to provide the high quality service that our clients expect. If you'd like to become part of our highly passionate team and you also strive for excellence in what you do, why not take a look at the opportunities here.

Give as You Live

Give as you live is a fantastic way to support Age UK Medway and best of all it won't cost you a penny! The only difference you have to make is to visit Give as you live before you start shopping, but even this can be made into a simple task by saving our charity homepage as a bookmark. Give as you Live is a shopping and price comparison website with a heart. You can shop for products from thousands of leading online retailers; use our price comparison tool to ensure you get the best price and even save money by using the exclusive offers and deals available on our site. So why not start supporting Age UK Medway while you do your weekly shop, or while you buy your significant other a gift, you can even support us while you buy yourself that new watch you've been looking at. Start shopping now at https://www.everyclick.com/age-uk-medway

The 200 Club

Cost of membership of the Club is £10 a year and half of the money goes towards the work of Age UK Medway. The other half allows us to hold a monthly draw with a prizes of £25 and £15 from March to January with a super draw in February with larger prizes. The draw is held in The Mackenney Centre, Gillingham. If you or any friends or relatives who would like to join please download the membership application below, or contact Jackie Williams on 01634 572616. Completed forms should be returned to: Emma Potter, Age UK Medway, The Admiral's Offices, Main Gate Road, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TZ  

Our Shop

Age UK Medway have been operating a charity shop in the heart of Gillingham on Skinner Street at 19 Skinner Street ,Gillingham, ME7 1HD  (tel  01634 854401) for over 20 years. In that time we've seen many amazing things come through our doors. However we're always looking for more items, so why not raid your roof space and clear your cellar's clutter. Then bring it down to the charity shop so it can carry on being loved by someone else, while supporting a local cause at the same time. Over the last few years the shop has made a lot of progress with the types of products that we offer, one main example of this is in the introduction of electrical items. All of the electrical items are function and safety tested before sale. However it's not just electrical items that we have, we also have a large range of other products such as:

• Ladies, men's and children's Clothing
• Bric-a-brac
• Household Items
• Books
• Children's toys
• Plus much, much more!

There are also some fantastic deals to be had, clothing prices start from as little as 50p, as well as any 3 items for £1.00 from our sale rails. Everyone is welcome so why not come down and get yourself a great deal? You never know what gems you might find.

Donate Items

Like all charities we rely donations as well as the sale of the good in our shops and funding from local councils to continue to provide our range or fantastic services, it is for this reason that all donations are welcome, if you are unable to make it down to the shop to donate your items, this isn't a problem either as we will more than happily come and collect them from you. To arrange a collection contact 01634 380195.

Buy products

Age UK Medway is a member of the Kent & Medway Trading Company, which works with Age UK to offer a range of insurance and other products designed for people over 50. You can buy the products online, or at one of the Trading Company’s offices. You can buy the products online or at our offices. Our trading offices operate as below:

c/o Age UK Medway
The Admirals Offices, Historic Dockyard
Main Gate Road, Chatham, ME4 4TZ
Tel: 01634 578085
Opening times: Mon – Fri, 9.00am – 3.00pm

c/o Age UK Maidstone
7 Mill Street, Maidstone, ME15 6XW
Tel: 01622 753618
Opening times: Tues, 9.30am – 2.30pm

c/o Age UK Sevenoaks & Tonbridge
9 Bradford Street, Tonbridge, TN9 1DU
Tel: 01732 366100
Opening times: Fri, 9.30am – 3.30pm

Community Trail