Clarissa has been receiving the befriending phone calls since November 2020. She originally received the befriending calls every week, is now on to fortnightly calls with the aim of ending the calls by the end of March. She was originally referred because she was very lonely and isolated, she suffered with depression and anxiety and Covid made everything feel worse for her. She only enjoyed playing on her PlayStation and watching tv.
She has spoken with the same experience volunteer since the beginning of 2021, in the space of time they have covered a wide range of topic and have got Clarissa to the point where she feels like she no longer needs to receive weekly calls. Clarissa is now going out a lot more often and feels her depression and anxiety are at a manageable level now and she feels like she can cope without the weekly support.
Her volunteer has been weaning off the calls so instead of over and hour call they are down to about 20 minutes and the plan is to gradually reduce the time until they are no longer needed completely.