The Lady Bader Ambassadors
Who We Are
The Edith Ellen Foundation is a UK Charity whose aim is to seek and establish one consistent standard of care across the UK care industry. One standard that delivers the kindness in care we wish for our loved ones and indeed ourselves, raising the appreciation and respect for those who deliver the care to our standard.
Included in our Kindness in Care programme are the following aspects:
1. Lady Bader Ambassadors, our Befriending Service, offering friendship particularly and one to one companionship for Veterans in care homes. But also recognising all those in care who need support to prevent social isolation.
2. Providing Advocacy for those in care who are socially isolated from families and friends through no fault of their own.
3. Connecting those who require extend help with their situations.
4. Establishing connections between people and generation’s, former local community, national bodies charities and organisations who can provide addition support for those in care a better quality of life.
5. Establishing rapport and understanding between people who require care, staff, management, and families to provide an improved care standard that enhances the quality of living for those who need it.
6. Influencing the development of a best practice national care standards and policies through the intelligence gathering on a daily basis and passing this knowledge to the national organisations and government departments that require this information.
7. In the process of setting up and working with the local community students to provide them with opportunities for a wide range of befriending and placements to share experiences, skills and knowledge between generations.
Why we do this:
Press Release March 2017
It is with pleasure that the Edith Ellen Foundation can now announce that the Family of Sir Douglas Bader and Lady Bader have gifted us the privilege to use Lady Bader's name's as a Legacy to promote our Ambassador's Befriending services.
From now onwards our Befriending Ambassadors will be known as the "Lady Bader Ambassadors" and will be a tribute to her, her husband Sir Douglas Bader and their family’s dedication to the lives of others.
Lady Bader's Ambassadors carry their own designated logo- a Dandelion with our Purple Butterfly and floating dandelions in the wind- signifying the Ambassador's ability to send the seed of friendship and companionship towards our Veteran service men and women in care home and in the community.
Lady Bader's Legacy is of a very special significance, because of the relevance her own journey through various unsuitable care home systems, before, in the very last few months of her life, receiving the care that finally cherished her as a person.
Had she been able to have the opportunity for our bespoke Befriending Ambassadors, the one to one companionship and a caring listening ear, she would not have been so lonely or so bored. She would have had someone to turn to outside of her family, whom she could place trust and confidence, knowing they would see, understand and support her feelings of sadness and being isolated within care.
How?
The Foundation is currently providing a unique pattern of Lady Bader’s ambassadors via a structured training program of volunteers who are being introduced into local care homes with much success. Providing a decrease in social isolation for those working in care and the people they care and connecting their Veterans residents, their families and staff to their local communities.
From our front line experiences in care, we have found this also stand true for so many other Veterans, and care homes now in the care systems.
This is why we are using our knowledge, skills and understanding of health and social care to ensure all our Veteran gain their rightful entitlements when they have complex health conditions and are undergoing Continued Health Care Assessments.
As a Foundation we seek to empower personal confidence and achievement, to encourage leadership and teamwork to excel in knowledge and understanding all the components needed for improving nursing and care service. We recognise it requires skills in communications, nurturing and all sharing together in the support of each other.
By extend our Befriending Services across our local area and beyond, and by bringing the generations together to share and value each other might, we are looking to encourage our youth to clearly map out our pathways to a sustainable future for nursing and care in the UK.
Gradually the Foundation is started to ensure our Veterans in nursing and care services have a quality of life through continuous connections with their previous lifestyles, family, friends, and local community.
Our intentions, starting locally, is eventually to have one Lady Bader Ambassador in every care home in the UK.
Kate Blake copyright Aug 2019