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DO you like to talk and get on well
with older people?
If you can spare an hour a week – Moorlands Home Link
would like to talk to you.
Home Link’s befriending service provides vital social
contact and support for elderly
people living independently in their own homes all over the
Moorlands.
The service depends entirely on a network of volunteers who
help make older
people’s lives less lonely by visiting them on a
regular basis – and, in many cases, the
visits are a highlight of the week for our elderly
members.
Demand for befrienders has grown rapidly since Home Link
expanded from the
Cheadle area into Leek this year and already around 50
volunteers are matched up
with an elderly person to provide friendship and contact
with the outside world.
Volunteer Pam Piggins, from Cheadle, says: “I get a lot
of pleasure from helping out
Home Link as a befriender. I think volunteering is a two-way
thing and I really enjoy
visiting members to bring them a bit of company. You
certainly get back more than
you put in.”
Marjorie Mayer, who receives regular visits from another
Home Link befriender,
says: “My visitor, Jane Keeling, has become a really
good friend to me and I feel
as though we hit it off from the start. We both speak the
same language and are
interested in similar things. It’s great to have
someone call in for a natter once a week
about what’s going on in the world.”
Befriending Co ordinator Diane Sellers is currently looking
for more volunteer
visitors in all areas including Leek, Cheadle, Alton,
Oakamoor, Kingsley, Dilhorne,
Draycott, Blythe Bridge, Werrington and Endon. She said:
“Volunteering as a
befriender can make a huge difference to someone’s life
without having to commit
lots of time. Visits can be arranged to suit the volunteer
and there are no barriers to
becoming a befriender. We have people of all ages, from
eighteen to eighty plus,
visiting our members each week.”
Contact Diane via the office on 01538 750511 or direct on
07888 10 40 48 if you
want to learn more about helping out as a befriender or
having a visitor yourself.