Supporting older people and their carers across the West End of Newcastle for over 50 years.
Founded in the 1970s with just a single worker, SEARCH has grown over 50 years into a lifeline for the older community of Newcastle's West End.
SEARCH began in the 1970s with a single worker in the West End of Newcastle, set up to support older people in the neighbourhood. Over the last fifty years its reach and its offer have grown enormously, but the purpose has held: to help older people in the West End stay connected, active and well.
Alongside its advice line, SEARCH runs a home from hospital service that helps people through the difficult transition back home after a hospital stay, and a full weekly timetable of activities and support sessions. These range from Tai Chi, water aerobics and Strictly Ballroom to tea and tech, knit and natter, memory lunches and mindfulness — all designed to build a sense of community, keep people mobile and ease the loneliness that can come with getting older.
More recently the charity launched Search@Home, a service offering practical help with housekeeping and administration in people's own homes. Since the pandemic it has placed particular focus on encouraging older residents to socialise and stay active, especially those living in tower blocks, who can be the most isolated of all.
From a first cup of tea at a drop-in to a weekly exercise class or a memory lunch, SEARCH gives older people in the West End somewhere to go, something to look forward to and people to see. For carers, it is somewhere to turn for advice and a moment's respite. It is, in the fullest sense, a lifeline for the community it has served for half a century.
With funding from the Trust, SEARCH has been able to run its advice line, which offers help to people aged 50 and over and their carers on pensions, legal issues, dementia, energy, and attendance and carer's allowance.
The advice is offered through drop-ins, a home visiting service, in-person appointments and telephone enquiries. So far the advice line has helped over 3,000 people, and the Trust is proud to have played a part in getting it off the ground.
We fund grassroots organisations across the North East that help people live healthier, happier lives.