Under a new scheme launched by Gloucestershire County in partnership with Gloucestershire Rural Community Council in October Stinchcombe has a Village Agent. The aim of the scheme is to provide face to face high quality information on a wide range of services and support to people in rural areas. The agent will work in the community, and carry out a series of practical checks. The service will be provided primarily to older people, but other people will also be able to receive Village Agent support. Support for the Agents provided by the GRCC will be through the provision of training, publicity materials, and access to information via the web through laptops.

The Village Agents are CRB checked and can:

• Give a free home safety check

• Help check to see if are entiled to extra benefits that you may not realise

• Help you stay in their own home and not go in to care

• Recommended organisation to carry out small home repairs

• Help you make new friends and began new leisure activities

Gloucestershire is one of only eight counties in England chosen chosen by the Department for Work and Pensions to develop the £10 million LinkAge Plus network. Village Agents is Gloucestershire’s pilot for this national scheme. Please contact our Village agent Richard Bellis on tel:07798 837582 to learn more.

As Richard says, “I have been provided with lots of information and contact details relating to health services, social care, pensions and benefits, housing, home and personal safety and much more. I have this information at my fingertips so that I can immediately start addressing your needs, just get in touch. There are of course organisations already in the village such as the Parish Council and the Church who are involved in making the village the community it is today but the Village Agent can be of help by working with them, supporting them and filling any gaps there may be. Please contact me if you want to find out more, feel you could use his help or know someone who might need it”