Terry has been on the befriending call service for almost 18 months. His wife passed away in April and since then he has really been struggling to get out and keep active.
He told his volunteer that he goes to church and one of the congregation there has set him a challenge to help with his mobility and fitness, he has found himself stuck in a bit of a rut! The volunteer now checks in regularly to see how he is doing with the challenge! The challenge was to try and go for a little walk each day, every day increase the number of houses he walks past before turning back. Terry started with 2 houses, then 4, then 6 and so on. He is proud as punch and is very keen to inform his volunteer of his progress, so much so that his volunteer has now joined the challenge and is updating Terry on her progress each week, they have a mini competition going on. Terry started walking by going past just 2 houses, he can now do almost 40 and has said that if he gets to 50, he will be able to get to his local post office for his daily paper, he has set himself a challenge to do that as it will give him a chance to speak to someone every day whilst out.
Terry’s normal volunteer has been unwell, so his calls have been covered by a new volunteer, they both have strong accents, and it turns out they both originate from the same village in Kent. It just shows what a small world it is. They have been able to reminisce together despite the 50-year age gap, they often spend up to an hour on the phone. It goes to prove that find the common ground and strong friendships are formed, again a testament to our wonderful volunteers.