Aberystwyth Rotary Club members had the chance to hear all about the work of Age Cymru Dyfed at their latest lunchtime meeting.

The guest speaker was Lynne Meredith, volunteer manager of Age Cymru Dyfed, supported by her colleague Joanne Zapettis.

The organisation’s core mission is to improve life with and for older people, Rotarian heard.

It is a standalone charity working in partnership with the national body - Age Cymru, and with the county authorities of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. It has an office in each of the three counties.

The Age Cymru Dyfed team consisted of 54 staff and 65 volunteers, offering a range of services such as advice on access to social care, housing and sources of income support.

Its mission was to improve life for older people; this could involve help on accessing the digital world, support on how to get online, providing tablet loans.

Their dementia advice programme included welfare benefit checks, help with completing forms and applications, offering advice on housing and social care needs, looking to see what home adaptations would enable them to live at home as much as possible.

Age Cymru Dyfed’s advocacy function involved advising on practical problems such as home maintenance, and paying bills.

One aspect of its work was to support elderly veterans who had interesting memories of their experiences in military and emergency services.

As a volunteer-led organisation, Age Cymru Dyfed laid great emphasis on the benefits of getting involved, and on providing training and ongoing support to the dedicated team of volunteers.

Aberystwyth Rotary Club's president thanked Lynne and Joanne for their visit and for a very informative presentation.

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