Tapestry

Who we are

Tapestry: Getting to know us asTapestry may be a name that’s new to you, but it’s certainly not a new enterprise. In fact, it’s been providing care and support services to Havering’s adult community for more than six decades. In December 2014, the charity known as Age Concern Havering became the social enterprise Tapestry. The transformation came about in response to the changing needs of the local community. We wanted to switch to an ‘outcome based’ culture, where everything we do is focused on providing solutions that make a tangible difference to people’s lives, and where we can ensure our local health infrastructure continues to provide services for all. A different way of working. To achieve all of this, we had to start working in a very different way. And we embraced that change wholeheartedly. As an organisation, we are well used to change. Age Concern Havering came about in 1972, but originally operated as the Hornchurch Old People’s Welfare Association, an outfit formed back in 1949, which is where we can trace our roots back to. In 2009, when Age Concern Havering merged with Help the Aged, the name – by then well renowned in the area – remained. Around the same time, Age Concern Barking and Dagenham went into administration. Havering decided to take over its trading arm, Pomelo Care, and in doing so expanded its support services into home and personal care. Reaching out to a wider community The decision to re-launch as Tapestry came about for another reason too. Whereas Age Concern Havering had always promoted its offering as services for the over-50s, it had become clear that the organisation was increasingly supporting adults who were younger than 50. Carers, younger people diagnosed with dementia and those with other health conditions were all approaching us for help and advice. A much wider community was asking us to reach out to them, too. And we responded. Our new mission is to enable adults to lead a healthy, positive and fulfilling life. We are still a registered charity, but now operate as a social enterprise. We aim to be self-sustaining and focused on outcomes, ensuring our services generate the income necessary to continue to deliver and expand the high quality services we are renowned for. And more than this, we have introduced prevention-focused services, all geared towards making sure the borough’s adults enjoy healthy, active and independent lives. How we work Our work now focuses on three core areas: 1: Prevention This is all about promoting a healthy, active lifestyle. We’re introducing sport and activity based initiatives like walking football, and organising sociable events like pub clubs and Perky Pensioner get-togethers plus outings and sightseeing coach trips. We want to eliminate feelings of isolation, encourage people to eat well and stay active, break the ice and make everyone feel welcome and valued. 2: Care We’re offering a range of care options. These range from day centres where people can come along and enjoy activities and good company in safe surroundings, to home and personal care services. From putting the dinner on the table to keeping the house clean and doing the laundry, sitting down for a chat and a cuppa or tidying the garden and taking care of personal needs, everything is aimed at making sure people maintain their independence and dignity and feel happy, healthy and connected in the comfort of their own homes. 3: Support Where there are new ways of life to adjust to, or journeys to make, we’ll be supporting people and their carers with a range of services such as personal home visits, peer support clubs and social events. Our dementia support services are extensive, and our stroke support team offers specialist assistance. Focused on positive outcomes With our focus on positive outcomes, we need to stay close to our new values of being enterprising, empathetic and expert in all we do. We’re making good use of technology to track the results of what we’re doing in real time, so that everyone who uses and is involved in our services and our organisation can see for themselves how it’s all working out.