SC was referred to us after having a stroke a few years back and had waited a long time for a volunteer to be matched with as she had a few falls which caused long hospital stays and rehabilitation.
SC has mild dementia as well as limited mobility and the stroke makes her difficult to understand at times however the need for contact was acute because her family live in Australia, so there is little contact outside of her carer team.
Meet the volunteer
CK became a volunteer with Age Well East after her husband died. Due to her own limited mobility she is not able to do face to face visits, but she was keen to offer some telephone support.
CK was matched with SC in July 2024 and she calls her for half an hour twice a week. It doesn’t matter to CK if they have a similar conversation each week and if they run out of things to talk about. They sometimes have a sing song down the phone!
Santa arrives!
Coming up to Christmas, CK had sent us a tree which we happily attached battery powered lights, baubles and a festive star too. We delivered the tree on behalf of CK – SC laughed at the Christmas headbands worn by our team adorned with Christmas trees!!
We then presented her with a bag of gifts and a Christmas card – some she opened immediately and a couple she has saved until Christmas Day. To say she was thrilled was an understatement and as we made her a cup of tea we could hear her saying over and over “How lovely, how lucky am I?”.
This made our Christmas too!
We sent pictures to SC’s Australian relatives and they were thrilled!
“Thank you so very very much for doing this..We rarely get photos so this is just wonderful.
We appreciate it very much.”
We also sent the photos to CK who has never been able to meet SC and she was thrilled that a few inexpensive gifts could make such a difference to someone and is looking forward to catching up with her tomorrow.
Have you been touched by this story?
Do you know someone who would benefit from our support? We know first hand just how vital this kind of contact can be, and not just the person in need of support but also for the volunteer too. Age Well East are one of the Essex Wellbeing Service partners who deliver this kind of support across Essex.
Just use the contact details on this website to get in touch if you’d like to now more.
Get in touch
Click the below button to take our online assessment to help you understand more about your health needs, prioritise them and find the right support for you.
Complete your Wellbeing Assessment TODAY
Alternatively, if you would like to speak to someone about any of our services, or would like assistance taking the assessment online please contact us on 0300 303 9988 or email provide.essexwellbeing@nhs.net to talk to one of our friendly team members.