November 2021

15 Buckden Roundabout November 2021 Village News What Makes a Community ‘ Age - Friendly ’? Buckden Parish Council are supporting a project led by the Uni- versity of Cambridge Medical School looking into ‘ what makes for age - friendly communities ’. Following recommendations by the World Health Organisation, cities and communities across the world are aiming to become ‘ age - friendly ’. These are com- munities, from cities to villages, that help older people stay well and active, and enjoy fulfilling lives. Buckden, together with three other places in England, is taking part in a research pro- ject. The research team is working with members of the Parish Council and other groups in the village to find out about ageing in Buckden. The focus of the study is on what difference age - friendly pro- grammes make to older people ’ s health and well - being, and what older people value the most. The team are interested in a wide range of things that are happening in the village. How do the various activities and services help to make Buckden a place where people can live well in older age? What else could be done to make it an even more ‘ age - friendly ’ village? What can other communities learn from Buckden? They have already met with representatives of several groups in the village. Councils and communities have limited budgets, therefore it is important to understand how well such age - friendly pro- grammes work, and whether investing in them is worthwhile. For example, should they invest in improving a bus service that allows older people to travel beyond their community? Or would there be greater benefits if they invested instead in a park with paths and benches that enables older adults to go for walks locally? While we know something about how much communities need and value these services and activities, we need to understand this better to inform decisions in Buckden and elsewhere. To make the most of the research, the team want to learn from the knowledge and experiences of people in Buckden. We are looking for people who would be happy to contribute to the study: individuals aged 55 plus, who live in Buckden. Taking part in the study involves filling in a questionnaire that asks about preferences and priorities regarding ageing. The questionnaire is quite short and should take about 20 minutes to complete. This can be done online or a paper copy can be provided. The online version can be accessed via https:// cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_87wDdAKbm78Ath4 A paper version can be obtained via the Parish Clerk. This project is funded by the National Institute of Health Re- search Public Health Research Programme (NIHR131061). Re- search collaborators include the University of Cambridge (lead), the University of East Anglia, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Liverpool County Council. Grafham Water Community First Responder Scheme We would like to make you aware of an impending initiative to establish a Community (Ambulance) First response scheme in this area. Once fully established, we hope the scheme will benefit five Parish Council areas, which cover the General Practitioner Surgery areas of Great Staughton and Buckden. The Grafham Water Community First Responder Scheme will be made up of volunteers who, within the commu- nity in which they live or work, have been trained to attend emergency calls received by the East of England Ambulance NHS Trust and provide ‘ first aid ’ until an emergency ambulance arrives. They will be tasked and deployed through the Ambulance Ser- vice Emergency Operations Centre. The idea behind the scheme is a simple one; local people with the appropriate training and equipment can get to local emer- gencies quickly because they are just around the corner. Time in responding is a very important factor and ambulances can ’ t be everywhere at once. Sudden cardiac arrest claims around 150,000 lives each year within the United Kingdom, with survival rates being around 3 - 5% outside of a hospital setting. If a person ’ s heart has stopped due to an accident or heart attack and is in a rhythm called ventricular fibrillation, the only way to get the heart into a more regular sustaining beat is to pass an electrical charge through the heart muscle. The first eight minutes are the most vital for the collapsed person and if first aid and a defibrillator are on hand, then the chance of survival will increase consider- ably. In Cambridgeshire, thanks to Community First Response Groups working with the ambulance trust, the survival rate is between 21 – 23%. If you are interested in volunteering to be a Community First Responder and live (or work) in either Great Staughton, Dil- lington, Perry, Buckden, Grafham, Ellington Thorpe or Elling- ton, please contact Richard or Phillipa Winser via E Mail: king- fisher.10@btinternet.com