On Tuesday 9th November 2021, Simon Baynes MP, visited The Rainbow Foundation’s Centre in Penley and praised both the staff and services at the organisation on their exceptional work.
The Rainbow Foundation is an award-winning active ageing charity that has been promoting good mental health and wellbeing whilst successfully tackling loneliness and isolation for the past 27 years.
Their mission is to help older people to regain their sense of worth, and to provide access to support, services and facilities that can empower people of all ages to retain as much independence as possible. Some of the services offered by the charity include their award-winning Day Opportunities Services (sometimes referred to as daycare), Home Care, Community Transport, Social Prescribing at GP surgeries across Wrexham and a range of groups and services supporting people to deal with issues such as mental health, bereavement, caring responsibilities and the menopause.
During the visit, Mr Baynes met with both staff and service users and was provided with a tour of the services offered at their wellbeing centre in Penley.
Mr Baynes was also able to see first-hand some of the services offered, including the Community Art Class, before visiting the Day Opportunities service where service users were creating their own poppies for Remembrance Day 2021. He was also able to thank the staff for their dedication and commitment to assisting the elderly and vulnerable, particularly continuing support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Baynes also learnt more about their Festive Fundraiser – a national raffle to raise vital funds for The Rainbow Foundation, allowing them to open a third day in Chirk. As well as enabling them to provide high quality home care in areas where private firms do not operate. Tickets are £2 each and are available to purchase from Just Giving at: www.justgiving.com/campaign/TheRainbowFoundationFestiveFundraiser or via our website at: www.therainbowfoundation.org.uk/fundraising/festive-fundraiser/
Caroline Tudor-James, Chief Officer at The Rainbow Foundation, said:
“We appreciated Simon coming to see us, which provided an opportunity for us to discuss how we are responding to the social care crisis across Wrexham. During the pandemic, we supported over 2,000 people through our day opportunities, and community wellbeing services - helping people with direct care, mental health support, supplies, meals and prescriptions.
“In response to our local care crisis we have opened a second wellbeing hub from Marchwiel Village Hall, with a third hub opening in Chirk in January. We have just launched 'Active Futures' bringing physiotherapist-led classes into the community to reduce falls. And we have also now registered with the Care Inspectorate Wales which is enabling us to launch our home care service across Wrexham. As we continue to grow as a charity, fundraising remains a vital part of our work to ensure all our services can respond to growing demand - which is why we have launched our festive fundraiser raffle with support from Coldplay, which we are hoping the community will support.”
Commenting after the visit, Simon Baynes MP said:
“It was a privilege to meet with both staff and service users of Penley Rainbow Centre to see for myself the exceptional work they carry out. I was extremely impressed to see and hear how The Rainbow Foundation is able to benefit our local communities by the range of services they offer and how they supported clients throughout the pandemic.
“During my visit, I was able to see the benefits of groups such as the Community Art Class and the way the day opportunities service was able to benefit the health and well-being of our more elderly community, particularly after COVID-19 and the negative impacts this had on mental health and well-being. For a lot of people, these services are a great way to meet with others and are a life-line to remain living independently, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank The Rainbow Foundation for what they offer the local area.”
