Robert has been volunteering with Rotherfed since August 2022, Robert is a student and is one of our younger volunteers. On average he has been calling 4 people a week, two of these calls are to the same gentlemen each week, Mike and Ken. Robert has started to feel like he is developing a better rapport with these gentlemen and feels like they are beginning to open up to him more about their circumstances and lives.
At the beginning Robert wasn’t 100% sure of topics they could talk about so said to the recipients “I’m fairly new to this volunteering, so if he you have any preference as to what you would like to talk about let me know” which led to conversation about politics, the monarchy, wars and many other topics.
After talking to one particular gentleman Robert realised how much they actually have in common despite a 30+ year age gap. Robert said “Yes, I have several things in common with Mike, I think he is getting more talkative, which I’m happy about, it seems like rapport is building”. Their conversations are now flowing over a wide range of topics and passions they both have. These conversations have also widened Roberts interests and he now enjoys watching similar documentaries to Mike. Robert now watches history and adventure documentaries and programmes about wars, which weren’t something he’d never considered before. Both the volunteer and participant have gained a friendship and wider range of interest in their lives.
Robert asked Mike if he wished to carry on receiving the befriending phone calls which led to the banter between them that if Mike didn’t receive the calls, then he would be ok, but he enjoys chatting to Robert, Robert replied with he didn’t mind as he has plenty of free time, and more importantly it gave him someone to talk with.