News

Jayne was referred to our project in December 2020, she was really struggling after losing her mum unexpectedly to Covid-19 in May of that year. Jayne was unable to attend her mum’s funeral due to own ill health and because she was shielding.

Jayne spoke with different volunteers but it was when she spoke with one of our students that SKYPE was mentioned. This was facilitated and the student volunteer set up a private email account for the specific purpose of calling Jayne.  Calls often lasted over an hour with lots of laughter. Unfortunately when the student left to go to Uni we had to put Jayne back to the calls only, whilst we found another volunteer who was comfortable with video calling.

Recently a new volunteer came through and she really wanted to take on the SKYPE call with Jayne, on the first call they spoke via video for over 2 hours. I did question this with the volunteer and she said it had felt like 2 minutes as the conversation and the laughs had flowed and the two of them felt like they had been friends forever. They have so much in common, especially the love of craft. Jayne is currently helping the volunteer get back into painting by offering help and advice on her work, being able to share on screen makes it all the better,  it really  is a two way thing and is improving the mental health of all parties. Next week is a paint along with Jayne advising the volunteers how to get best use out of oil paints she received for Christmas.

Neville was originally referred to us back in August 2021. Neville lives on his own, and his wife is very poorly in a care home. Neville has been receiving friendship calls from two volunteers – Jonathan and Julie who alternate calling Neville. Neville has reported that he finds this service very invaluable as it eases the loneliness when he cannot go and see his wife. Neville enjoys watching sports and loves anything that can challenge his mind like dominoes. As restrictions have now eased, Neville has mentioned to Julie that he would love to be able to get out and about a bit more and meet new people. Julie has agreed to pick him up and bring him to a coffee morning being hosted by Rotherfed on 9^th February, He is really looking forward to this, but has said that he will still very much like to continue with the calls as they break up a very lonely week.

Clarrisa is a lovely chatty lady who is quite new to the calls. She was referred to us via Social Prescribing. Upon assessment it became quite apparent that she was very apprehensive about receiving the calls. Further investigation revealed that Clarrisa has had a very tough life and is of ill health herself. On saying this she is so resilient and the reason she was unsure about the calls was due to the fact that she had always been the carer and didn’t know how she was going to cope with the shoe being on the other foot so to speak?

Clarrisa was a foster carer to a disabled youngster and spent much of her life caring for her, she also volunteered and supported others when-ever she could.

Clarrisa has been having the calls for just short of 2 months now, she speaks with regular volunteers and has already built up a fantastic rapport with them. It’s not easy for her but our volunteers know how to get the best out of the recipients and in this case it was about finding things in common. We think the friendships here will go from strength to strength and Clarrisa will slowly accept that this isn’t about giving in and asking for help it’s about enhancing what you have.

Juliet lives on her own and likes working in the Garden when the weather is good. Although she is an upbeat lady she does struggle with loneliness. She has family but they only ever call. Juliet is living with mental illness and has been diagnosed with OCD.
Covid has left her more alone and isolated. Juliet came to Connex via an internal referral as she was receiving befriending calls. During the calls it was often discussed about Juliet’s desire to get out and about again but many factors were working against her and she really didn’t think she could attend an event in a group environment.
We had some events coming up, so called Juliet to see if she would like to attend, she was interested but still very apprehensive. She had only been to bingo which was a familiar routine from pre-lockdown, a new event was a big challenge and as much as she wanted to go, it was a massive step for her to go. Conversations continued and then when an event was organised at a venue that Juliet was familiar with, not far from her home address, Juliet agreed to attend. One of our volunteers who speaks regularly with Juliet said she would meet her at the event, so they could meet face to face and put a face to a name. This was the factor that swung it for Juliet and she was determined to put her fears aside and attend.
Juliet now attends events on a regular basis, often meeting the volunteer there. Watching them catch up is amazing, they are in their own world and chat away like long lost friends. During one of our more recent events Juliet also got talking to one of our community staff members, she was saying that the energy crisis was causing her major worries and that she didn’t know what to do. This has led to her being referred for energy advice, our community staff explained the process and that she would get help, you could see the fear disappear in that moment.
Juliet is still living with mental illness but due to Connex and other interventions she is feeling so much more positive, is able to go out more and is feeling so much less isolated, long may it continue.

Paul was originally referred to the friendship calls by the council in April 2020 and was the first call recipient. Paul used to work down the Rawmarsh pit and enjoys fishing, watching TV, especially history programmes. He started isolating in the first lockdown and found this very difficult to deal with. He was paired with his first volunteer in May 2020 and had received calls from a number of different volunteers during the first months. In July, he was permanently paired with his current volunteer Tony, and they have really built up a close friendship and are still talking to each other weekly today. This is what Paul had to say;

‘I could not have got through this pandemic without the calls that I receive every week, it really gives me something to look forward to and break up the loneliness in the week, thanks to Tony and RotherFed for this – you have no idea what it means to me’.

Lily was referred to us by the council in April 2020 during the first lockdown. Lily lived with her husband Peter and suffered from anxiety and depression. Lily also had some clinical issues and problems with her heart. Lily was placed with our board member Mary who has continued to support Lily throughout her time on the friendship calls and a very special relation had built up between them. Sadly, Lily had recently passed away, however Mary spoke with her husband Peter, and as Peter and Lily had been married for over 60 years, Peter found life very lonely, and Mary offered to continue to call Peter going forward. This was agreed and Peter will now receive regular calls from Mary during his time of bereavement and for however long he needs the calls.