Mollie Roach

Mollie Roach lives in Pembrokeshire and is the founder of a registered charity Solva Care which offers a volunteer service to provide social support and care for its older people and their families.

Following a career as an English teacher, Mollie and her husband retired to the family home in Solva where she became active in the community- joining the Solva Community Council and serving on a variety of committees. She saw that the population of Solva was growing older, many without family living nearby, and were finding it increasingly difficult to access social services and permanent carers in a rural community. Mollie was convinced that it should be possible to arrange better care locally and to make people feel more connected to their community. Mollie led the fundraising for a 2-year pilot project to set up a local social care company, supported by a group of volunteers. Solva Care began operating in 2015 and today is supporting over 800 people in the parish with 45 volunteers offering a voluntary service - providing transport, shopping, organising events to counter loneliness, as well as organising short respite for family carers.

Solva Care is seen as a pioneer in providing community-based services and is now mentoring other communities to help them set up similar projects.