Jean has only been receiving the befriending phone calls for a month. She is a full-time carer for her husband who has advanced Alzheimer’s. She was really looking forward to the calls as she said she had been feeling very lonely, she can’t get out much due to her husband’s condition and this is a huge change for Jean.
Her first call was with a volunteer called Debbie, Jean said they were talking for over an hour. They covered everything from family, hobbies, and volunteering. Jean said that talking to Debbie had “cheered her up no end” and Debbie was “an absolute treasure”. Debbie said the phone call was the highlight of her day as well.
Jean called the office saying how much she had enjoyed her call with Debbie and how much it meant to her that Debbie had taken some time out of her day (longer than planned) to chat with her. It had made such a difference to Jean that someone would do this having taken time out of their busy lives to make the call and chat to some random “Tom, Dick or Harry” about anything and everything. Debbie and Jean now speak on a regular basis, and both enjoy the calls immensely.
This really does show just how important the befriending calls are to people who may not have anyone to talk to.
