Connex Participant – Juliet

Juliet lives on her own and likes working in the Garden when the weather is good. Although she is an upbeat lady she does struggle with loneliness. She has family but they only ever call. Juliet is living with mental illness and has been diagnosed with OCD.
Covid has left her more alone and isolated. Juliet came to Connex via an internal referral as she was receiving befriending calls. During the calls it was often discussed about Juliet’s desire to get out and about again but many factors were working against her and she really didn’t think she could attend an event in a group environment.
We had some events coming up, so called Juliet to see if she would like to attend, she was interested but still very apprehensive. She had only been to bingo which was a familiar routine from pre-lockdown, a new event was a big challenge and as much as she wanted to go, it was a massive step for her to go. Conversations continued and then when an event was organised at a venue that Juliet was familiar with, not far from her home address, Juliet agreed to attend. One of our volunteers who speaks regularly with Juliet said she would meet her at the event, so they could meet face to face and put a face to a name. This was the factor that swung it for Juliet and she was determined to put her fears aside and attend.
Juliet now attends events on a regular basis, often meeting the volunteer there. Watching them catch up is amazing, they are in their own world and chat away like long lost friends. During one of our more recent events Juliet also got talking to one of our community staff members, she was saying that the energy crisis was causing her major worries and that she didn’t know what to do. This has led to her being referred for energy advice, our community staff explained the process and that she would get help, you could see the fear disappear in that moment.
Juliet is still living with mental illness but due to Connex and other interventions she is feeling so much more positive, is able to go out more and is feeling so much less isolated, long may it continue.