Story
Our mission is to reduce loneliness in care homes by recruiting and training volunteers to make regular one-to-one befriending visits to care home residents. Our Wiltshire based volunteers normally work across 35 care homes and make 2000 befriending visits every year, focusing on the loneliest and hardest to reach residents, some of whom don't have any other visitors.
She tells me so much more now and we share an interest in animals - which is a great way to lift her spirits if she is feeling a bit low.
Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and resulting lockdown of care homes, our face-to-face befriending visits have been put on hold. Our lovely volunteers are writing letters and greetings cards to the residents they would normally visit, but lonely and isolated residents are greatly missing seeing a familiar face and having a conversation with someone they know.
These unprecedented times are challenging for care homes and for their wonderful, dedicated staff. Some residents may be feeling bewildered, anxious or frightened, and greatly missing contact with their loved ones and the outside world.
We would like to supply our partner care homes with tablet devices, at around £100 each, so that residents can make video-calls to loved ones and our volunteer befrienders.
We thank you so much for any contribution you can make.