Behind every statistic is a person — a name, a Thursday afternoon, a language spoken again with someone who understands it. These are some of the connections made possible through Befriending, Community Activities and Cultural Support.
“Thursday used to be just another day. Now it's the day Aisha comes.”Margaret, 78 — matched with volunteer Aisha, 3 years
When Margaret's husband passed, the house went quiet in a way she hadn't expected — no radio, no footsteps, no one to make tea for. A referral from her GP connected her with Uniting Companions, and within a fortnight she was matched with Aisha, a volunteer with a standing Thursday visit. Three years on, those visits have outlasted two house moves and a hip operation. "She doesn't come because it's her job," Margaret says. "She comes because it's Thursday."
Filter by the kind of support that made the difference.
“I've got someone to lose a chess game to again.”
Tom hadn't played chess since his wife stopped being able to, four years before she died. His volunteer, James, mentioned in their first phone call that he played badly but enthusiastically. Eighteen months later, their Tuesday matches are the fixed point in Tom's week — and James is still losing.
“We started as strangers who liked the same park bench.”
What began as two people and a shared route around the local park has grown into a standing group of seven, several of whom now share lifts, birthdays, and a group chat. The walk is the excuse; the friendship is the point.
“For the first time, someone explained the letter without me guessing.”
Fatima had been in the UK for over twenty years but found official letters — about pensions, appointments, benefits — a source of quiet dread. A caseworker who speaks her language now helps her make sense of them, and has connected her with a weekly women's group where Somali is the first language, not the translated one.
“Retirement gave me time. It took me a while to find people to spend it with.”
Robert retired expecting freedom and got isolation instead — his working life had been his social life. A neighbour brought him to a monthly lunch club eight months ago. He now helps set up the chairs before anyone else arrives.
“I didn't need English lessons. I needed people who already spoke mine.”
Wei had lived quietly for years, capable in English but never quite at ease in it. Our cultural support team introduced her to a nearby Mandarin-speaking elders' group — now a fortnightly fixture where she is, in her own words, "not translating myself" for the first time in a long while.
“She reads me the parts of the newspaper I can't see anymore.”
Macular degeneration took most of Doreen's reading years ago, but not her appetite for the news. Priya's weekly visits now include twenty minutes of headlines, read aloud, followed by the opinions Doreen never holds back.
Our volunteers and caseworkers on what these connections mean to them, too.
"I thought I was giving up an hour a week. I got a friend I now plan my week around."
Aisha, Befriending Volunteer
"You watch someone go from answering the door with one eye through the gap to putting the kettle on before you knock."
James, Befriending Volunteer
"Being able to explain a benefits letter in someone's first language isn't a small thing. It's the difference between dread and relief."
Cultural Support Caseworker
Every number on our Statistics page started as one conversation. Your support starts the next one.
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