Time to Change West Cumbria – OKEachDay Case Study

Helping people stay independent in West Cumbria

It was a tragedy which first made Rachel Holliday, the founder of Time To Change West Cumbria Project CIC, aware of Alertacall. In December 2021, Natalie Kane, 27, and her 14-month-old son Harry, were found dead at their home in Whitehaven, Cumbria. Natalie had died suddenly and Harry was unable to survive on his own while his mother’s body lay undiscovered for a number of days.

The incident shocked the local community and no one more than Rachel, who at the time operated Women Out West – a charity which supported vulnerable women in the area and which offered support to Natalie. Rachel began looking into ways to use digital technology to help keep people safe and soon came across Alertacall, which is based in Windermere.

“It was so horrible for everybody and it made us all question how it was possible for someone to die and lay undiscovered with no one to check on them. I wanted to do something to make sure that something like this could never happen again” said Rachel.

In view of the tragic circumstances, Alertacall initially donated a number of its touchscreens to women in West Cumbria so they could use the OKEachDay service to let Rachel know they were safe and well.

The running of Women Out West has now passed to not-for-profit Gateway 4 Women Workington.  However, women in West Cumbria still continue to use Alertacall’s touchscreens via Time To Change West Cumbria, a charity that Rachel established in 2013 which runs a number of initiatives in the region.

“I never feel alone”

One of the women is 79-year-old Patricia, who lives alone with her Maltipoo, Tilly. Patricia worked in document control in the nuclear industry before retiring and becoming a local councillor. She also founded her own charity, the Blue Skies mental health support group. Patricia has been using the Alertacall service since 2021.

Patricia, whose husband died 12 years ago, is living with heart problems and mobility issues and using the OKEachDay service brings her peace of mind as she knows someone from Alertacall will get in touch if she does not press her button.

If Alertacall cannot contact Patricia directly, then they will notify Rachel or Patricia’s son.  Above all, she feels safe in the knowledge that someone will come to help Tilly if anything happens to her.

“I know that my little dog is safe because they are there for me,” says Patricia.

Patricia says it has been easy to change the time when she chooses to press her button as her sleep patterns have changed. On a few occasions when she has overslept, she has received a prompt call from the Alertacall team.

“They are very observant if I am not awake,” says Patricia. “That phone call alerts me that it is time to wake up.”

Patricia says it has also been easy to notify Alertacall if she is going to be away on holiday or unable to press the OKEachDay button because she is in hospital.

“The touchscreen is very simple to use,” she says. “I originally had it in the living room and got up to touch the screen. Then when I got the mobility problems I put it beside the bed.”

“It gives you a safety net”

At 80 years old, retired teacher Elly loves to keep active. As well as taking part in regular keep fit and French classes, Elly also volunteers with Rotary International and drives to France to take a holiday each year. However, Elly was taken ill last summer when she suffered a TIA, otherwise known as a mini-stroke.

“I woke up and didn’t even feel poorly,” remembers Elly, who lives alone in Whitehaven.  “It was a very hot night and I tossed and turned all night. When I got up in the morning, I just felt a bit dozy like I hadn’t had enough sleep. The first indication I had that something was strange was that I couldn’t remember how to make my coffee in my little cafetiere. At 9.15am a friend rang me and gobbledygook came out of my mouth. That was the most terrifying thing. I just could not get the words out. They just weren’t making sense. I panicked and I started to cry because I knew something was seriously wrong.”

Her friend rang a neighbour who was able to come around and help her and ring for an ambulance. Elly has now recovered, although she still has occasional problems remembering words.

She has been using Alertacall’s OKEachDay service and touchscreen since shortly after the incident in June last year.

“I’m a very busy person and more than once I’ve actually forgotten to press it every morning when I’ve been rushing out, but it kicks in straight away and I’ve had somebody ring me to say “Is everything OK?’,” says Elly.

“Retaining people’s independence”

Elly and Patricia are just two of several women who have been referred to use Alertacall’s services via Time To Change West Cumbria.

If they do not press the OKEachDay button or respond to contact from the team, then Alertacall will notify Calderwood House, a temporary shelter for homeless people which is run by the charity in Egremont. The shelter has someone onsite 24-hours a day who can then notify friends and family.

Rachel says Alertacall’s solutions could help improve the lives of vulnerable people who move into their own homes after using the hostel, as well as those who have always lived independently like Elly and Patricia.

“We work with and house a lot of vulnerable people in our society,” says Rachel. “The main thing is that they’ve got no place to live. They go to the council for help and then they get referred to us. It could be for a whole range of reasons. It could be because of addiction, it could be people who have come out of prison; we have people whose marriages have broken down or just that their landlord is going to sell their rental house. We can offer the service to anybody who is falling through the net.

Calderwood House has 24-hour cover, but when people move through into the community, we can offer them a touchscreen if that’s what they want. It retains their independence and the person can look after their own safety, which I think is brilliant. If we were to look at another system, for example, ringing around vulnerable people and checking everybody’s okay, that takes a lot of manpower and resources. Alertacall takes all that away.”

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