age UK

Did you know that there are estimated to be 38,000 lonely older people in Norfolk and loneliness can be just as harmful to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day? In Norfolk County Council’s ‘Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’ report, figures show that North Norfolk has one of the higher percentages of lonely older people across the county

Age UK Norfolk has been working hard for 15 years to combat loneliness across Norfolk, having launched our Befriending service in 2007 The service makes friendly, weekly phone calls to older people in need of somebody to chat to. For many, we are the only person they speak to all week

We currently befriend 294 older people, making over 15,200 calls a year - that’s over 7,600 hours of befriending! Our service grew by 70% since the outset of the pandemic and shows no signs of slowing down; we urgently need volunteers who enjoy chatting to people to join our friendly team and help us be there for those who need us

Volunteering as a befriender is very flexible, you only need 30 minutes spare a week and can make calls from the comfort of your own home The calls that we make to older people are very highly valued and can make a real difference to the life of somebody experiencing loneliness, but our volunteers reap the benefits too!

Hilary, who lives in North Norfolk, volunteers for our Befriending service and supports three members “I have benefited from speaking and making friends with my befriending members and they also enjoy our very different conversations!

“I would recommend volunteering; none of the ladies I phone have any form of computer access (nor do they want it!) so they benefit from knowing that someone is thinking of them and contacting them on a regular basis ”

To find out more about volunteering as a Befriender, you can visit our website: www.ageuknorfolk.org.uk, contact our Volunteer Co-Ordinator on 01603 785 210 / volunteering@ageuknorfolk org uk or scan the QR code with your smartphone