ADVERTISING FEATURE - Loretto Care puts people at heart of support services

For some, it will be help in our homes as we grow older, for others, it may be more intensive support to cope with mental health issues, a disability, addictions or homelessness.

Whatever you require from your support service, Loretto Care can help.

Individuals are at the heart of everything Loretto Care does.

Its health and well-being staff are dedicated to ensuring each person it supports leads independent and fulfilled lives in their homes and communities.

This work is underpinned by compassion, care and respect. And it is delivered in a cost-effective way that gives people the level of support they require, enabling them to develop to their full potential.

Support is available with a wide range of activities, including help with personal care, housework, taking medication, going to appointments, managing finances, and keeping up interests and friendships.

It is geared towards building more independence, confidence and resilience.

Loretto Care can also help people with a wide range of support needs to live in their own homes and to be in control of their support and outcomes.

This allows each person to lead their personalised support service and become active citizens within their community.

“At Loretto, we put people in control of their own lives,” said Sue Johnston, who is one of Loretto Care’s service development leads.

“We design the support around what each person needs and wants, working closely with each individual to identify what their requirements are and what they want to achieve in life.

“Each support service is developed in partnership with the individual, to ensure the service they receive is flexible and focused on helping them achieve the best outcomes.”

In North Lanarkshire, Loretto Care is helping people grow friendships and put down roots with an innovative community garden at its community hub in Wishaw.

It is just one of the ways Loretto Care brings together its staff, the people it works for and the wider community in Wishaw.

The hub is the base for personalised care services provided for people in their homes across North Lanarkshire.

It is from there that its dedicated teams of health and well-being staff work across communities to support people.

The garden, funded by a £4000 grant from Grow Wild Scotland, gives everyone a chance to get outside, enjoy some physical activity, meet new people and develop their interests.

Everyone’s individual skills are valued – whether they are painting planters, clearing weeds or planting new seeds.

Robert McCarte, one of the many people who is supported by Loretto Care in Wishaw, is a keen member of the gardening club.

The 51-year-old said the personalised support he gets with daily living – such as managing money, housework and getting to social activities – means he can live a more independent and fulfilled life.

The gardening club means he is able to keep up an old interest, while making new friends. “It is definitely helping me build my confidence and self-esteem,” he said.

“I have always been fascinated by how things grow, so it is good to be able to follow that interest – it gives me something extra to do and the chance to meet different people.”

Joining Wheatley Group, Scotland’s leading housing and care organisation, in 2013 has enabled Loretto to bring much more to its communities than it ever could before.

One example is the Wheatley Pledge, a scheme which incentivises its contractors and suppliers to do more for communities by creating jobs and training places for local people or doing voluntary projects.

Since 2013, more than 200 new job opportunities have been created in this way for people served by Wheatley and its partner organisations.

It’s thanks to the Wheatley Pledge that the community hub was given large planters for use by the gardening group and has the services of a landscape architect to assist in the planning of the new community garden.

Back in the hub, health and well-being manager Kate Keltie is thrilled to see people blossom ... along with the garden.

She said: “It is wonderful to see the transformation in the people we support, which is a result of offering meaningful activity and focusing on individual abilities and strengths.”