Alice has been receiving the befriending phone calls since June 2020. She is a very lively colourful character; she is wheelchair bound but doesn’t let it stop her from living her life to the full. She has recently had some major health issues which have made her have to change a lot of her ‘normal’ life, she now has carers coming in 3 times a day, many hospital appointments and long stints in hospital.
Alice has spoken to the same volunteer for over 18 months, and they have developed a true friendship. They speak every Monday afternoon, Alice said the calls are the highlight of her week because she can live vicariously through her volunteer, the share gossip on what’s been going, tv show suggestions, and have a rant about whatever they feel like and set the worlds to rights.
Alice has said repeatedly to her volunteer how much the calls have helped her during this new phase of her life.
They have spoken about how the changes to Alice’s life aren’t as bad as Alice originally thought, Alice said that she originally felt like her life was over and now she feels like it’s not the end just a new way of life. She now sees that her life has changed but it’s not in a bad way, yes, she has more hospital visits, but that means they and she know about her health issues and what they are dealing with.