Community Connections

The Community Connections team is always on hand to support Bupa employees with their fundraising and volunteering activities offering financial assistance, advice and guidance to ensure they get the most out of the experience and achieve a great impact in the local community.

• Bupa began helping communities in 1979 with the creation of the Bupa Foundation charity. In February 2001, the decision was made to set up Community Connections.
• Today, Community Connections has refined its volunteering and fundraising programme to focus on the areas of ageing, chronic disease management and wellness
• The launch of Community Connections has seen Bupa donations to charitable causes rise from £2.6 million to £5.3 million.

Visit the Bupa Community Connections website

Musical Memories

Launched in October 2008 and due to run until October 2011 in Bupa homes throughout the UK, the Musical Memories project will see Bupa Giving provide funding for 200 performances a year. Bupa Giving is a new charitable initiative set-up to celebrate Bupa turning 60 and complements Bupa’s existing charitable initiatives. Bupa Giving supports the development of services and those who provide them to improve health and care.

The partnership with charity Music in Hospitals will see music ranging from classical, jazz and folk, to music hall and show tunes performed by professional musicians, with the aim of improving the quality of life and wellbeing of our residents.

Performers are carefully selected by audition for their high standard of musicianship, communication skills and breadth of repertoire. The success of this partnership is largely down to the talented musicians, who not only perform to an excellent standard, but are also able to interact with residents. Their sensitive approach, together with their understanding of the healthcare environment, contributes towards a warm and relaxed atmosphere and a hugely positive experience for our residents.

Activ-eat

Activ-eat is Bupa's fun health education programme for children aged six to nine, which encourages them to eat a balanced diet and lead healthier lifestyles. It started in Bupa Care Homes, and was such a good idea that it’s been taken up by Community Connections for the whole business.

Bupa volunteers visit schools, teaching children the importance of a healthy diet with activities including smoothie making, identifying fruits from around the world, and a game of nutritional Top Trumps.

All Bupa care homes in Scotland and London now have fully trained Activ-eat teams. Trained teams also exist in other homes across the UK taking the current total to almost 80. Further teams will be trained in 2010.

Ecuador challenge

Following the success of Bupa's first international challenge in 2007, which saw 60 people from across Bupa heading out to Thailand to refurbish an orphanage, the second international challenge was launched and completed in 2009.

120 Bupa employees from across the globe, 60 of them from Bupa care homes, were selected to take part in the building of a community centre and medical facility for the poor, agricultural community of Miraflores, 40km south of Quito in Ecuador. For more information about the challenge and to see how much was achieved, please visit the Bupa Community Connections website.

Sensory Gardens

Launched in 2002, Bupa’s Sensory Gardens project has since successfully engaged local communities in helping to create sensory gardens in more than 250 care homes around the UK. The project is run in conjunction with national disability and gardening charity Thrive.

The new or adapted gardens appeal to all the senses through the use of colours, smells, textures and sounds. Designs have included a seaside garden, a garden with a mini golf course, and another with features made entirely of recycled materials.

Residents, family, friends and the care homes' local community have reaped the health benefits associated with gardening activities and have been able to take advantage of the sensory stimulation. Each participating home receives a grant to spend on plants, tools and garden features, as well as support to engage the local community in the project.

The Bupa Garden

The Bupa Garden, designed by award-winning gardener Cleve West, won the RHS/BBC People's Choice Award at this year's Chelsea Flower Show. The Garden had already achieved a gold award from the RHS judges and following this BBC TV's viewers and visitors to Chelsea voted it their "best in show".

The Bupa Garden was inspired by our global commitment to creating garden sanctuaries for care home residents. It is designed to illustrate the individual approach we take in providing health and care, and our leadership as a provider of specialist care for older people, especially those with dementia.

A key element of the garden was to make it particularly appropriate for care home residents who have dementia. The garden's main focus is a large spherical sculpture of textured concrete, designed to symbolise Bupa's global values. There is also a soothing water feature, and the paths and planting builds upon our sensory gardens project.

Hedging divides the garden and provides different routes by maximising the use of space. A mixture of perennials, roses and grasses provide colour, texture and scent. It demonstrates how a small courtyard might be turned into a stimulating, but safe environment for residents and their carers.
The garden has now been moved to its new home at Bupa's Meadbank Nursing Centre in Battersea in south-west London.

Visit Bupa Meadbank Nursing Centre