Currock Community Centre Currock Community Centre provides a focal point for its community with an average of 500 to 600 people accessing the centre’s services each week. A number of its services are focussed on ageing well with around 10 groups per week providing arts, crafts and exercise opportunities. One of those sessions is the Warm Spot which runs every Thursday morning over the winter in partnership with Carlisle Eden Mind, addressing social isolation by providing a warm and welcoming space for a natter. Lisa Anderson from Carlisle Eden Mind who facilitates the Warm Spot sessions said: The Community Foundation provided funding to set up and run the Warm Spot and a household support grant from Cumberland Council provides a decent hot meal while the Warm Spot is running. This hot food provision has helped encourage attendance. June lives alone near the centre. Her children have moved away and by her own admission she doesn’t eat well as she rarely cooks for herself: Billie Percival, who runs the centre, said: One older man who has no phone or access to social media, and no family or friends nearby had, by his own admission, given up on people and was not looking after himself. Attending the Warm Spot brought him into contact with others and helped reduce his isolation. It also brought him to the attention of Billie and her colleagues who have been able to provide him with additional support such as a hamper of food to help him take care of himself. CASE STUDY It helps people relax and get things off their chest. As well as talking to people about projects such as our Lighthouse crisis support centre, I have referred people to Citizens Advice for help with benefits and dealt with housing and neighbour issues with referrals to housing providers or the police. The Warm Spot is a really good place to meet people and make new friends. People who I have seen in and around Currock but not spoken to before are now friends. It is great to chat and find out new things about people close by and today the homemade soup and cheese scones were lovely. While the Warm Spot only runs over the winter months, people who attended in the past have gone on to access other groups that the centre runs throughout the year. Brampton Bus Buddies Brampton Bus Buddies aims to combat isolation by encouraging older people to get out of the house and onto public transport, with everyone helping each other to navigate routes and timetables. One of the Bus Buddies, Harry Simpson, said: The Buddies have an outing at least once a month and the destinations are decided at committee meetings. There are 18 members of the group, and anyone is welcome to join. The only stipulation is the need to be mobile and able to access buses independently. The bulk of the journeys are on scheduled bus services so that participants can use their bus passes (the NoWCard issued by the local authorities) to travel for free. Harry said: While the bus pass can in theory be used on any service in England, given the distances involved, and the scarcity of scheduled bus services in Cumbria, destinations for day trips can be limited. As Harry said: “By the time we get the bus into Carlisle then change buses, the journey to the coast at Whitehaven takes us two and a half hours each way. And there’s only so many times you can go to Newcastle!” To help the group get further afield, Cumbria Community Foundation provided a grant over three years to pay for occasional coach trips with local providers. Harry said: CASE STUDY We went to Keswick and had a fish and chip supper on a lovely sunny evening. It was marvellous. For some it's about getting their independence back after losing their driving licence due to ill health. For others, it's simply about having a friend to travel with. We have been to Edinburgh and Beamish, and 14 of us went to Blackpool on an Irving’s Coach trip. Some of our members had never been to Blackpool before and they got to see the lights. It was nice for them, and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Carlisle: Opportunities & Challenges 2025 50 51 50 Carlisle: Opportunities & Challenges 2025
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