A WEE COUNTY care team have handed over a three-figure cheque to a UK charity battling to prevent exploitation of older people.

Carole Gillies, service manager for Mears, presented Lesley Carcary, director of Action on Elder Abuse Scotland, with a cheque for £300.

Mears provides care at home through its teams of care workers across 20 branches in Scotland.

This enables older people and those with disabilities to remain living independently in their own homes.

Carole said: “My colleague Susan McCormack and I attended the Elder Abuse Conference last year and we learned a lot to help us in our daily tasks providing care at home to older people in the Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire areas of Scotland.

“We were inspired to do some fundraising to help this worthwhile cause, we wanted to help and so we ran a tombola and an evening with Lee Dunn, the psychic medium, to help us raise the funds.”

Lesley added: “Action on Elder Abuse relies totally on voluntary donations. We are very grateful to the efforts of the care worker teams in Clackmannanshire and Stirlingshire for this donation.

“We are the only charity in the UK working exclusively to end the harm, abuse and exploitation of older people; we provide knowledge, expertise and support to thousands of people every year.”

Lesley continued: “Any older person can potentially become a victim of elder abuse: abuse can take many different forms, from physical, psychological, financial, sexual to pure neglect.

“Both older men and women can be at risk.

“This could happen wherever they live or visit, including someone’s own home, in a day centre, a residential home, a nursing home or in hospital.

“We encourage families to think in advance about ways in which someone can reduce the possibility of abuse, by avoiding isolation or dependency, and by having more than one person keep an eye on matters.”

Meanwhile, Mears are currently recruiting for full and part-time care workers for Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire.

Flexible working is also available, full training is given and Mears supports their staff through their SVQ learning and qualifications in care.

Anyone interested persons can call Sammie Tucker for the Stirling branch on 01259 768627 and Craig Jardine for Clacks on 01259 768670.