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Rachel first spoke to Sally back in September 2020 through the friendship calls programme. In her referral notes it said she was a victim of domestic violence. When I spoke to Sally she told me she felt very emotional, lonely and depressed. Her parents and children live down South and she has no family or friends in Rotherham. She moved to Rotherham to be with her partner (this is the violent partner), she no longer has any contact with him.   

Sally told me that would like to meet new people and start working again, even if it’s just a few hours a week.  However, since the domestic abuse she has lost all confidence in herself and has low self-esteem. Sally also suffers from bipolar disorder and has done since 2012. During our 50-minute conversation Sally became very upset on several occasions. 

A year on and Sally is like a different person. We have kept in touch on a regular basis over the past year and it is amazing to see the difference in her. In the early days of meeting Sally, she started to attend the craft and welling being sessions at The Thurcroft Hub which she really enjoyed. From there she has volunteered at the Social Supermarket, joined a running club and got involved with a few local activities too. More recently Sally attended our Tenant Coffee morning at Springwell Gardens, this was the first time I had actually met her in person which was lovely. Sally thoroughly enjoyed the coffee morning and from that she has filled in the forms to become a volunteer with RotherFed, she has also attended a council meeting and plans to attend another one later this month. Sally has also agreed to help me at a couple of events in Thurcroft in November. I am looking forward to working with Sally and seeing her progress even more than she as done already.

Quote from the Tenant Coffee Morning:

“It was so good to finally meet you in person today and your colleagues, what a lovely bunch. I can honestly say I haven’t laughed like that, except with my old friends, since I’ve lived up here.  Thank you for all being so welcoming to me.  Volunteer forms being filled in as we speak xxx”.

Steven was referred to us back in October last year. He is out on probation after committing assault again another man. He has been trying to get his life back on track, and in the interim has been struck with medical problems. The conversations between the volunteer and Steven are always so positive and he is very open and honest with his dialogue.

Sophia is an Asian lady who began making calls for us back in November last year. She was a very nervous individual who had extreme anxiety due to her previous marriage situation and ostracisation from her Asian community. She blossomed making the calls and was doing very well. It was after few months that her husband contracted Covid and she had to step back into the role as wife. This created a very anxious situation for her and she decided after having some mental health first aid from her coordinator, to take some time out. After some time, she then decided to resume her volunteer role. She was allocated a lovely lady that she was very happy to support, and also decided to enrol herself on some mental health training. After further discussion, she has also decided to become a Rotherfed Connex volunteer, which is a massive step forward for her. We invited her to attend our TPAS presentation Award.

Milly was originally referred to us back in March. She has long standing Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and has no confidence. Milly did not go out much previous to getting the friendship call, does not watch TV and just passes her time on her tablet. She has a 14 year old daughter that she only see on a Sunday. Milly is obese and is under a psychologist. Milly has been trying to lose weight to qualify for bariatric surgery. As she does not speak to anyone – except her professional team, she has built up a fantastic relationship with her volunteer – here are a couple of feedback from the volunteer outlining the conversations of the past two week.

Another positive chat with Milly. She talked at length about the work she is doing with her psychologist, and although she finds talking about some aspects of her past difficult she has continued to engage in the therapy and to complete the homework she sometimes is asked to do. We chatted about her diet and the target she needs to reach by the 28th of this month to ensure she will be accepted for bariatric surgery. Apart from the occasional setback she remains focused. Milly spoke about having some time out for herself today and had visited a store she likes in Sheffield and treated herself to a couple of items. She said this had lifted her mood. We chatted about the Covid vaccination programme and Milly is keen to have a booster. She talked about her daughter who is 14 years old and has recently had Covid, Milly is encouraging her to get vaccinated when she is able to do so. We talked about the area where Milly lives as I know it well and about local craft groups that Milly attends. Further contact arranged towards the end of next week

Brief chat with Milly today, she talked initially about her recent appointment with psychologist and then about the approaching appointment with a doctor in the Bariatric Service when a decision will be made re the surgery. Milly had managed to lose a little weight this past week but is still a couple of pounds off her target and is starting to worry about this. We talked about her coping strategies and about using the support available to her particularly if the outcome of her appointment with the Bariatric service is negative. Milly has requested I contact her next Thursday afternoon, the day after her appointment.

Tina is a young student who has been calling participant Mandy since December 2020 they have built up a real friendship over the months talking weekly without fail. Mandy has many health and social problems but never fails to have a weekly laugh with Tina. Tina in turn has helped and supported Mandy through many things, getting her assistance with pension applications and pointing her in the right direction for help. Tina has now departed for university but will stay in touch with Mandy to let her know how she is getting on (with Tina’s consent).

Mandy said “I loved my weekly chats with Tina, we had a laugh and Tina really helped by listening to my worries, I will miss her calls. I wish I could have adopted her!”

Friendship across the generations, no barriers. Mandy is now looking forward to her chats with a new volunteer and hopes to have the same sort of blooming friendship.