- Date: 29/11/2021
Our befriending service helps customers feel their best and makes an empty house feel more like a home.
Here at Revival, we have volunteer befrienders on hand that can help people bring life back into homes and help people feel part of their community. They link customers over 55 years old to social groups, activities and can help customers get digitally connected. Throughout the last year they’ve also provided support over the phone to isolated customers.
Befriender Max* has been supporting customers over the phone for the last eight weeks. He said: “calling customers once a week is a big thing for me and gives me a sense of achievement.
“I’m not as confident as I used to be and struggle with social anxiety. But by talking to someone who might feel isolated or alone helps me to cope and is restoring my confidence.
“A lot of the time I’m just an ear for them, and it’s nice listening to all the stories and happy memories they have. It’s a win, win for everyone involved. It helps me to restore my confidence and is helping someone feel less alone at home. It’s a small task, but it makes the biggest difference to us both.”
Alison Lawson, Home Support Team Leader says: “For some people those telephone conversations are the only conversation they have with someone in a week. It gives our customers a sense of belonging and reduces the isolation they feel, helping to ease any fears or anxiety they might have.
“It's great for both our customers AND volunteers too. It helps enhance volunteer skills because they’re talking regularly with vulnerable people. It’s also great for their CV and we can even give references for people who volunteer for Revival. It gives them something important to do and helps them give back.
“We get feedback from family members who tell us their loved one’s appreciated the weekly calls and it helped to lift their spirits. It’s nice to know we’re making a difference.”
Find out more about our befriending service here: www.thisisrevival.org.uk/our-services/befriending-service