ISOLATED dale folk are being treated to a scrumptious afternoon tea with volunteers during National Befriending Week.
Time Together Teesdale, a joint scheme between Teesdale Day Clubs and Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services (Utass), sees volunteers making weekly visits to people who are feeling alone.
Visits this week have been made all the more special because each of the project’s seven volunteers were given special hampers from Clarendon’s, in Barnard Castle, as a special treat when visiting the person they are supporting.
Project coordinator Suzanne Wallace said eight people in Teesdale are currently supported by the scheme, and six more have been referred.
She hopes more people will also sign up as volunteers.
Ms Wallace said: “I’ll go out and meet the person who needs support and find out what they are interested in and then match them to a volunteer.
“The volunteer either just sits in their home, talks to them and offers help, or some of them are mobile so they will visit coffee shops, or some go shopping.
“Volunteers get as much out of this project as the supported person.”
She added: “For some of the supported people it is essential.
“For some of them that is what they look forward to each week because they are totally housebound. Some of the volunteers will go out twice a week but that is primarily down to them.”
Volunteers receive training and are reimbursed for any expenses they incur during visits, which can last anywhere between one and three hours.
Among those who offer up their time for the scheme are husband and wife team Julie and Adam Barrow.
Mr Barrow, a retired mental health nurse, described the visits as fulfilling.
He said: “We have talked about loneliness and how debilitating it can be and just that one visit a week can make all the difference.
“It was always the plan to do volunteering when I retired. I know how debilitating it can be to be isolated and I wanted to give something back.”
A lady visited by his wife recently returned home after a stint in hospital.
Mrs Barrow said: “When I’ve been to visit her face literally lit up with a lovely smile when I walked in – it is really lovely to see that smile, she doesn’t need to say anything else. She has no other family so she would be on her own otherwise.”
Anyone who would like to volunteer for the scheme or would like to make a referral can email Ms Wallace at suzanne@utass.org or ring 01833 641010.
