Wetherby’s WiSE

We speak to Karen Leaf of WiSE to find out what the charity is offering…

Based at the One Stop Centre in Wetherby’s Westgate, WiSE (Wetherby in Support of the Elderly) is a charity founded in 2002 by inspired local businessman Neil Bellamy. Since then the organisation has grown steadily, now employing eight people and operating around 160 volunteers. Since Neil retired in mid 2016, a new manager in the shape of Mark Dobson has come on board to oversee this indispensible service for older people.

The charity offers a raft of services all year around, and as Karen says, “We have Nicola, who can offer help on so many issues. She is a one-stop information centre for the over 60s, and can offer advice on so many issues, from sorting out power of attorney to getting the right parking badge or supplying lists of reputable local tradesmen.”

“The charity offers a raft of services all year around”

Other support WiSE offers includes a transport service, with volunteers driving elderly people to appointments in the locality; a befriending scheme for isolated and lonely people; and Soup and a Smile, a latter-day ‘meals on wheels’ where volunteers deliver soup and stay to chat with their clients over lunch.

Karen oversees monthly and weekly events throughout the local area, covering Wetherby, Boston Spa, Collingham and all the outlying villages. As she points out, “We have several activities for the over-60s in Wetherby at the Social Club on Sandbeck Way. It’s wheelchair friendly and near parking and bus routes.”

“There’s Chatter and Batter, where we meet at 11:30 on the third Tuesday of every month to chat over a fish and chips lunch and maybe do a quiz or two. On the third Wednesday of the month there’s Elderberries, an over-60s social club where we hold arty crafty sessions or have live entertainment.”

WiSE also runs weekly keep fit sessions at the Social Club. Chairobics is a gentle and seated exercise session for anyone who doesn’t find it easy to move around. The charity also offers plenty of activities at the Village Hall in Boston Spa, with weekly knitting groups, twice monthly poetry sessions and nostalgia time with a good old singing session at the monthly Rockin’ Robins sessions. Other events include the Boston Tea Party, a monthly get-together for people living with dementia and their carers; a similar event is also held monthly at the Sunshine Café in Collingham Village Hall.

If you’d be interested in joining any of Karen’s activities in Wetherby or Boston Spa but are not sure how to get there, there’s always the volunteer driving service to fall back on. Just phone on 01937 222066 to get door-to-door transport from a friendly, DBS-checked driver.