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The New Vital Sign: How We Are Revolutionising Falls Prevention in North West Surrey
Acacia Homecare Celebrates Community at Egham's Magna Carta Day
There are few things we enjoy more than getting out into our local community, meeting new people, catching up with familiar faces, and sharing the work we do to help people remain safe and independent at home. This year's Magna Carta Day in Egham was another fantastic opportunity to do exactly that.
Held in the historic town where the Magna Carta was sealed over 800 years ago, the annual celebration brought together local organisations, families, businesses and visitors for a day full of entertainment, community spirit and conversation. We were delighted to be part of the event and would like to thank everyone who stopped by the Acacia Homecare stand throughout the day.
Meeting the Community
From the moment the festival opened, our team enjoyed speaking with residents about a wide range of topics. Some visitors wanted advice about arranging care for themselves or a loved one, while others were interested in learning more about the rewarding career opportunities available within home care.
These conversations are incredibly valuable to us. They allow us to better understand the needs of our community while giving people the opportunity to ask questions in a relaxed, informal setting. Whether someone was looking for immediate support or simply planning for the future, we were pleased to offer guidance and reassurance.
Introducing Our New Falls Prevention Assessment
One of the highlights of the day was introducing visitors to our latest falls prevention initiative.
Falls remain one of the biggest risks for older adults living independently, which is why we continue to invest in evidence-based approaches to identify potential risks before a fall occurs. Visitors had the opportunity to try our digital grip strength assessment, a simple, quick and non-invasive test that measures grip strength. Research has shown that grip strength can be an important indicator of overall strength, frailty, and future falls risk. By identifying changes early, we can help people access the right support sooner.
This technology is part of our new falls-prevention service, which will now be incorporated into our free initial care-planning assessments. Alongside other mobility and wellbeing checks, the assessment helps us build a clearer picture of an individual's physical abilities and identify areas where additional support or preventative measures may be beneficial.
Our goal is simple: to help people remain safer, stronger and more independent in their own homes for as long as possible.
Special Guests
The challenge even attracted some special visitors, as the Mayor and Mayoress of Runnymede stopped by the Acacia Homecare stand to put their grip strength to the test. Steve Ringham and Beena Ringham were embracing the fun spirit of the day, and they enjoyed a friendly competition to see who could achieve the highest score. We were also joined by Leo John Davies, the Community Engagement Officer of the Egham Museum, who was keen to learn how a simple grip test can identify fall risks and also tried to rank on the leader board for the grip strength test. It was wonderful to welcome them to our stand and share more about how this simple assessment can play an important role in identifying fall risk and supporting people to remain independent for longer.
A Great Response from Visitors
The grip strength challenge proved to be one of the busiest attractions at our stand, with plenty of friendly competition throughout the day as visitors put their strength to the test. Alongside the assessment, everyone who visited our stand had the opportunity to enter our Magna Carta Day prize draw for the chance to win a £20 Waitrose gift card.
It was wonderful to see so many people engaging with the activities, asking questions and learning more about how proactive care and early intervention can make a real difference to maintaining independence later in life.
Congratulations to Our Prize Draw Winner
Following the event, we were delighted to announce L. Pratt as the winner of our Magna Carta Day prize draw.
Congratulations once again! We hope you enjoy spending your Waitrose gift card, whether it's on a few special treats or your weekly shopping.
Thank you to everyone who entered and helped make the competition such a success.
Thank You, Egham
Community events like Magna Carta Day remind us why local care is about so much more than providing support at home. They're about building relationships, encouraging conversations, sharing knowledge and helping people feel confident about planning for the future. A huge thank you goes to everyone who visited our stand, took part in the grip strength challenge, entered our prize draw and spent time chatting with our wonderful team.
As we continue to support our local community throughout the year, we're already looking forward to returning to Egham High Street for the town's Christmas Market. It's another fantastic opportunity to meet local residents, catch up with familiar faces, and share more about the services and initiatives that help people live safely and independently at home. We hope to see many of you there as we round off another wonderful year of community events together.
If you would like to learn more about our home care services, our new falls prevention assessments, or are considering a career in care, we'd love to hear from you.
