What is a call companion?

As a call companion, you will make regular telephone calls to a lonely and isolated older person. These calls provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated.

Over time, you and the older person you have been matched with will get to know each other well and together you will spend many hours full of fun, laughter and stories.

Tasks include:

• Following the guidance in your call companion training modules to ensure that your calls are enjoyable, appropriate and in line with our charitable aims.

• Keeping in regular contact with your call companion coordinator and letting them know how everything is going.

• This is a flexible, homebased voluntary role that can easily be fitted in around your own lifestyle and availability.

• This is a long-term voluntary role, so we are ideally looking for individuals who are able to commit to volunteering with us for at least 12 months.

• Please note that you must be at least 18 years old to volunteer as a call companion

What’s in it for you?

As one of our valued call companions, you’ll receive training from Re-engage, and support and regular communications from your call companion coordinator.

This is a fun and rewarding role which will enable you to connect with a lonely older person and make a real and lasting difference to their life.

About us:

Re-engage (formerly Contact the Elderly) is a charity that is positive about older age and committed to fighting loneliness so that people can have social lives and friendship however old they are. We inspire and enable meaningful connections and shared experiences within communities across the UK for people over 75 facing loneliness and social isolation.

Our staff and volunteers work together to create better communities and help to enrich the lives of our members by giving them something to look forward to. Older people who may have felt very alone, now feel valued as individuals, continue to form friendships, and have support. We make sure that people know they are important well into old age. Respectful, determined, warm, pioneering, and local: we are Re-engage and we are bringing generations together.

Application form: https://www.reengage.org.uk/volunteer/new-volunteers/become-call-companion/apply

Skills:

We are looking for call companion coordinators with the following skills and attributes:

Good conversation skills

An enthusiasm for speaking on the phone and making connections remotely

A friendly, empathetic approach

The ability to really listen to people

Patience

A good sense of humour

A passion for improving the lives of lonely and isolated older people

The ability to volunteer as part of a mutually supportive team of call companions

Basic computer literacy (including the ability to use email)

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO APPLY please contact:

Amythyst Bonstow
amythyst.bonstow@reengage.org.uk