Suspending face-to-face programmes and finding new ways to keep people connected

Please note: this post is 57 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

With the ongoing spread of new Coronavirus, and the understanding that the virus is now distributing within the population and is a particular risk for older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions, The Cares Family, including Manchester Cares, has decided to suspend all our programmes involving older people from Friday March 13th to Thursday April 30th.

This is to ensure that our programmes do not contribute to the spread of the virus from individual to individual, that we protect those most at risk of serious harm from contraction, and to minimise the risk to the wider community, partners and staff. The health of our neighbours and our wider community is our number one priority. 

In times of challenge and change, how we stay together and help to connect those most at risk of social isolation and social distancing – not just now, but in normal times too – will come into sharper focus.

Manchester Cares will continue to communicate with our older neighbours remotely, to make sure people feel part of our changing world, rather than left behind by it. That is more important now than ever. 

So over the next six weeks, we will develop new ways for older and younger neighbours to stay in touch – by chatting on the phone, by sharing favourite books and films remotely, by sending one another videos, and by generally nurturing the ties that bind us together: our relationships. 

We normally do that face-to-face – but for six weeks we will find new ways to help people find connection in a disconnected age.