Services

Our ultimate goal at CLARE is to see a major reduction in social isolation, promote the independence of our older people, and to build lasting support networks for those who need them.

We offer:

  • Person Centred Support Planning including living plans and assessment of needs
  • A listening ear & the reassurance that someone is always at the other end of the phone
  • Enrolment in a variety of in house projects such as The Getting Better Project or The Healthy Living Project
  • Information & Signposting where necessary
  • Support to Access Services & Resources
  • Assistance to Connect to Social Activities including CLARE facilitated groups such the monthly Duncairn drop in
  • Befriending & Help with Occasional Tasks/Transportation


Ready to make a referral to CLARE CIC?

Find out what happens next below

Our process

#1

A Referral is Made

To make a referral, simply press the button below, fill in the form and submit it. The new referral is then automatically added to our pending list. 

Please note our criteria of a successful referral includes:

  • Referee must live in BT14, 15 or 36
  • They must be over 65 (or there abouts) 
  • There is an element of loneliness or social isolation
Make a Referral

#3

Community Social Worker Involvement

Once a new referral has been assigned to a specific Community Social Worker within CLARE they will make contact with that person via phone call and arrange an initial visit with them. 

This visit will allow our Social Workers to get to know the new referral, have a proper chat and assess how CLARE CIC can best help them going forward. This will include an inital Living Plan, risk assessment and identifying areas that require support. 

#2

The Pending List

In order to give potential new referrals the best quality service – we do have a pending list. This allows us time to individually assess, and assign new referrals to one of our social workers, making sure that no one slips through the cracks.

Please note: we will not be able to give you a definite amount of time that someone will be on the pending list but we will do our upmost to get to them as soon as possible.

#4

Officially a service user of CLARE CIC

After this initial contact is made, they will officially be a service user of CLARE CIC. This means that they will have ongoing support from the enitre CLARE CIC team as well as their designated Community Social Worker. 

They will be able to avail of attending any groups we run, projects we offer, be added to the befrienders waiting list if applicable and generally feel part of a warm and intentional community within North Belfast. 

The CLARE CIC Drop In at The Duncairn

The Drop In style get together that we run at The Duncairn Arts Centre once a month is one of the highlights of the activities we get to do at CLARE CIC.

What has become a lifeline to so many started off as just an idea of something we as a team could facilitate to give our service users and other over 65s in the area a change of scenery and a chance to meet other like-minded people. 

In nine months we have seen the numbers of attendees group substantially, with us even having to hire a bigger room! Every month we have a different speaker or activity, plenty of tea, coffee and eats and enough chat and laughs to keep us going until the next month.

Know somebody who would enjoy this group? Please get in touch to see when the next date is or check our Facebook page for more details – the more the merrier! 

FAQ

Please find below our frequently asked questions

The person must live in either BT14, 15 or 36, be over the age of 65 (or there abouts) and be experiencing some degree of social isolation or loneliness. 

Anyone! We get referrals from GPs, Social Workers and other organisations but you can just as easily refer your parent, friend, neighbour or even do a self referral. 

We are unfortunately not able to give you a precise time. We endeavour to give every service user the time they require to get them through the initial process and we are a small team, but please know we will work hard to get them in as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately we do not. We do not provide any domiciliary care nor the making of meals etc CLARE is more involved in the border workings of a service users life, for example their wellbeing, physical and mental health, safety and mobility. 

We are currently running The Getting Better Project which focuses on service users mobility and improving their physical wellbeing through gentle 1-to-1 exercise over 8 – 10 weeks. We are also running The Healthy Living Project where a Nutritional Therapist is brought in to help improve service users nutrition & lifestyle spread over 12 weeks. 

We are currently runing two groups:

  • The Drop In at The Duncairn Arts Centre once a month & is open to anybody
  • A Wednesday morning group at The Mount Vernon Fold which runs fortnightly 

Get in touch with us

Have questions that weren’t answered?

We would be more than happy to have a chat about how we can best support you or your family member. Please don’t hesitate to

Contact us