News Archive

It is National Dementia Awareness Week in England and Wales from 3-9th July, and the focus of this year's campaign is to 'Remember the Person'. Dementia is used to describe the symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by specific diseases and conditions. Symptoms of dementia include loss of memory, confusion and problems with speech and understanding. Although there is no cure, there are lots of things that can make life for dementia sufferers more manageable and enjoyable.

When you know someone who has dementia is it easy to focus on the dementia instead of the individual, so Dementia Awareness Week urges people to remember the person instead.

There are many ways of helping people with dementia maintain as normal and independent a life as possible, as well as helping families and carers of people with dementia. VNC Lifeline offers a range of telecare sensors and adaptations such as door exit sensors, pill dispensers, flood and fire detectors and more, which can be fitted at home, tailored to a patient's individual needs.

Find out more about the telecare equipment we can provide here. All our telecare sensors are programmed to a 'base' alarm unit, which usually costs a one-off £25 to install; however to celebrate National Dementia Awareness Week, between 3-9 July, we will install the unit free of charge.

Please call 0151 298 2440 for more information, and take steps to making life for someone with dementia easier, safer and more independent.

Some facts:

• There are currently 750,000 people with dementia in the UK.
• There will be over a million people with dementia by 2021.
• Two thirds of people with dementia are women.
• One third of people over 95 have dementia.
• The financial cost of dementia to the UK is over £20 billion a year.
• Only 40% of people with dementia receive a diagnosis
• 60,000 deaths a year are directly attributable to dementia.

(Source: www.alzheimers.org.uk - 1/7/11)

Since announcing that we can now take card payments, many customers have chosen this as their preferred method of payment. Paying for Lifeline by card (Visa/Debit/Credit/Maestro) is more convenient for customers who prefer not to deal with cash or cheques.

To pay by card, simply call us when you receive your quarterly bill in the post, and we will take your payment over the phone.

Please note that we continue to accept payments by cash, cheque, or by monthly standing order. If you wish to set up a monthly standing order (of £12.96), please contact Lynn on 0151 482 2542.

VNC Lifeline is now blogging, so come and follow us at www.vnclifeline.blogspot.com . We'll be posting news, offers, life-saving stories and most importantly, it's where you can tell us what you think about Lifeline.

We want to interact with potential new, and existing customers so log on and ask us a question, make a comment or simply get the information you need!

Last Wednesday, June 15th, we enjoyed a lovely 'Afternoon Tea' event, where about 15 of our customers accepted the invitation to come and meet the staff here at Lifeline and have a nice chat and sing song whilst enjoying some home-made jam and cream scones! There was also a raffle, and one fortunate member of staff was treated to a dance with one of our customers, Ronnie!

The afternoon was a good opportunity to talk to people about Lifeline, how it helps them, and also to see if there's anything we can do better.

We hope to have more Afternoon Tea events during the year, so if you're a customer already, or you would be interested in becoming a Lifeline customer, please contact us on 0151 298 2440 to put your name down on the list. We will contact you nearer the time with the date and arrangements. You're guaranteed a lovely afternoon out!

Falls need not be final...

It might be true that falling is sadly a natural part of getting older, but falling needn't have devastating consequences every time. Having a 24 hour emergency pendant alarm service at home can help older people live independently, with the peace of mind that if they were to fall, help is only the press of a button away. And because the pendant is worn around the neck, no matter where the fall happens - in the bathroom or garden even - they can still get emergency help. With the increased risk of fatality if elderly people remain on the floor for a sustained period, this service is quite literally a Lifeline!

VNC Lifeline in Vauxhall, have been providing this emergency alarm service for almost 20 years and regularly make a life-saving intervention when someone presses their pendant after a fall. Lifeline is like a silent carer, always there when help is most needed. Mr Gosling from Everton is living testimony to this fact. About six months ago he fell at home and split open his head. An ambulance was swiftly called after he pressed his pendant, and despite losing pints of blood and the hospital finding it difficult to stitch his head, Mr Gosling eventually made a full recovery and is now back at home. He says 'The Lifeline quite simply saved my life, and I would recommend everyone to tell their friends and family to think about having one as you just don't know when you might need it'.

To celebrate National Falls Awareness Week next week (20-24 June), VNC Lifeline are offering Merseyside residents free installation of the Lifeline service (worth £25) between 20th - 24th June 2011. Call 0151 298 2440 to find out more. There is only a small weekly rental charge for having the service which could save a life.

VNC Lifeline was the feature organisation in a recent documentary filmed for South Korean television. Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) spent a day's filming split between Lifeline's control centre, and at the home of an elderly alarm user as part of a documentary looking at the 'Ideal Urban Village and Community'.

Following the decline of the traditional 'nuclear family' in South Korea, which is mirrored in the UK, and with the changing demographics of people living longer, more people living with long term conditions, and the family unit being more geographically dispersed; the documentary seeks to look at some of the emerging services that are addressing these changes.

A telecare alarm service such as VNC Lifeline provides, is not currently provided in South Korea and Lifeline was therefore chosen as the focus for the filming in Liverpool. Lifeline's community alarm system is a 24 hour emergency response service for people wishing to remain living independently at home.

The Korean film crew visited the Alarm Response Centre in Vauxhall before filming at the home of Nancy Flanagan MBE to show first hand how the services works in the home. Nancy Flanagan is one of the founding members of VNC Lifeline, and had the service installed in her own house some years ago. She can testify first hand to the value of the service following a nasty fall resulting in multiple stitches. She received the emergency help she needed by pressing her pendant.

The documentary is due to air in South Korea over the next couple of months, and the Northwest should be rightly proud of a Liverpool-based organisation being selected and showcased in Asia.

Because we really do value what our customers think about our service, we hope to have an open coffee/tea morning where we can have an informal chat with people who use the Lifeline service to find out how we're doing and any things you think we could do better. Even if you are not currently a customer, you're still very welcome to come along and ask questions about how the service works. We'd be delighted to talk to you.

Where: VNC Lifeline, Silvester Street, Liverpool L5 8UX

When: Thursday 26th May 2011, at 2.00pm

Please contact Hannah Back on 0151 482 2533 or email hannah.back@vnclifeline.co.uk if you are able to come.

Customers can now pay for their lifeline by card (Visa/Debit/Credit/Maestro). We hope that this new service will be more convenient for customers who prefer not to deal with cash or cheques.

To pay by card, simply call us when you receive your quarterly bill in the post, and we will take your payment over the phone.

Please note that we continue to accept payments by cash, cheque, or by monthly standing order. If you wish to set up a monthly standing order (of £12.96), please contact Lynn on 0151 482 2542.

As a provider of an emergency alarm response service, we must be accredited, and regularly assessed by the 'Telecare Services Association' (TSA). This means that we have to meet standards around how quickly, and how well we respond to calls, how we deal with faults and complaints, and many other criteria.

Lifeline is delighted to announce that at the end of November, we successfully achieved our accreditation from the TSA for another year, which means that we continue to deliver an excellent service. For more information, visit the TSA website www.telecare.org.uk

VNC Lifeline has recently added to its marketing team. Mark McLaren, Adam Hart and David Norris are Lifeline's new Marketing Assistants who spend much of their time out and about, promoting the Lifeline service in the community at events and in venues across Merseyside. They've even been known to help out with the Bingo calling at some events! (Mark is a stand-up comedian in his spare time!)

...Coming soon to a venue near you!

Do you regularly attend a luncheon club/bingo club/tea dance/ community group in your local area? If so, please let us know about it, and we can come along and talk about the Lifeline service and how it can help you live independently at home. Please contact Hannah Back on 0151 482 2533