Author: Laura

We always appreciate our volunteers whether they make 1 call or 6 a week, every call is providing a lifeline for a participant that is lonely or isolated.

Recently a new volunteer came forward, she was very enthusiastic and asked for 5 calls on week one! We did want to start her off lower so we agreed to 2 calls to see how she got on, by 11am on Monday she had made the calls and sent through her logs, said she absolutely loved it and could she please take on some more. This happened to be perfect timing as one of our other volunteers had taken ill and was unable to make their calls that week, so another 3 calls were added.

Since that first week Fiona has gone from strength to strength, she loves dedicating her time to the calls and has said it has in fact made her a better person, she told me the other day that her daughter had told her that mummy was a nicer person now she was volunteering and calling people. Fiona has two children and finds herself at a loss during the day, she says this has given her a new sense of purpose and she has made many friends during the calls that have helped her more than she can say.

Fiona now makes up to 15 calls a week, including one skype call. She can be on the phone for hours at a time, we do check in with her often to ensure that that number of calls is still enjoyable and do-able. She says she will certainly shout up if anything changes, right now she is just happy to be making a difference.

Whilst we are very clear with those that refer to us, and to the participants themselves, that the service we offer is a Friendship Call. A friendly voice and a listening ear, we are more than aware that our volunteers and staff go above and beyond to enable us to provide the amazing service that we do.

We currently have two ladies receiving regular calls from Volunteers, both unfortunately have a diagnosis of cancer. Our two volunteers have stayed with these ladies throughout their ups and downs and provided that light relief that the ladies need, a reliable, non-judgemental conversation. The volunteers and the ladies are proving to be an inspiration and just goes to prove we are so much more than just a call.

We as a service check in on our Volunteers often as we know that these are not easy calls to make sometimes.

Margaret was referred to the friendship calls 4^th January 2022 by Social Prescribing. The link worker informed that she had never managed to talk with Margaret as she would not engage. Margaret is taken care of by her husband, who is now at his wits end, as Margaret has taken herself off to bed and become bed bound. She refuses to engage with anyone including her own children when they come to visit.

Jane arranged to contact Margaret’s husband for an initial chat to see whether the friendship call service would be of any use to Margaret and whether she would engage or not. Her husband gave Jane her mobile number and a time and date was arranged for Jane to contact Margaret for an initial chat. Jane called Margaret and at first, she was reluctant to engage, however, Jane did manage to get her talking about her time working in a library, Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

Jane asked Margaret if she would be happy to take a call once a week from a volunteer just for some company and a friendly chat and she agreed. Margaret was placed with volunteer Sue, and Sue made arrangements with Margaret’s husband on the best time to call. Sue and Margaret are getting along fantastically now, and Sue has been calling Margaret for the last 4 weeks now and they are having great chats, with Sue regularly putting in reports that Margaret is really engaging and that they chat about all sorts of things.

Bella was referred to the friendship calls project on 25^th January 2022 by one of the senior clinic nurses and Ferham clinic. Bella suffers with paranoid schizophrenia with hallucinations about spiders and shadows. She also suffers with social anxiety and cannot venture out alone so always has a friend that needs to go with her. Jane did the original assessment and Bella was unsure as to whether the friendship calls service would benefit her as she felt that no one would understand her condition.

After discussion with volunteer Donna, it was agreed that Donna would call Bella once a week to see how things progressed. Donna has the experience to be able to ensure that Bella does not wander out of the boundaries of the service as she did start to ring Jane and leaving numerous messages after hours for someone to ring her back. Jane explained that the service was not a support nor advice service and that the volunteer’s phone number cannot be shared with her and that she would only be getting one call a week. This has now settled down, and Donna and Bella have reached an understanding with Bella really starting to open up and chat to Donna on their weekly calls. Donna has been calling Bella regularly now for the last 4 weeks.

Vera has been a recipient of the friendship calls since October 2020. Vera is a lovely lady, who lives alone in council accommodation. Lockdown hit her hard as she is a very social person, but found herself shielding and also suffering anxiety about the situation. Although Vera is retired, she often visited Gambia 2 to 3 times a year taking gifts for the children out there, with Covid this has stopped. She will now make her last visit later this year, this will be her first trip back in over 2 years. Vera checks in regular on her neighbours in her block, but obviously the face to face contact stopped.

Vera really appreciated the calls and was able to access help through housing for some problems she had, she had weekly calls where she was able to sound off if needed but more importantly have a laugh and a joke with the volunteer.

More recently Vera has been able to go out more and has attended RotherFed tenant voice events, these are great for her, as she can chat to her heart’s content. She is getting out again and forging new friendships. Vera contacted us recently to say that now her confidence had returned and her anxiety reduced she felt she no longer needed the weekly calls as she was out of the flat a lot more, coming to the coffee mornings and being able to socialise has given her this re-found confidence. Vera keeps in touch as she is now more involved in tenant voice events, where she sings the praises of RotherFed and its staff (especially Carrie who Vera has a soft spot for)! It’s great to see her back to what we imagine to be the Vera that was, pre Covid. A beautiful social butterfly with a heart of gold.