The value of helping others
Reconnections Guildford & Waverley Service Administrator, Eloise Harvey, shared with us the value helping others has had during the pandemic.
Helping others is such a motivational and uplifting way of working. When I joined Reconnections GW in October 2020, I was so happy to have found a job that puts people first. Although COVID restrictions and lockdowns have hindered original plans and prevented us doing what we really want to do, to help people feel less lonely, we have found ways to adapt our approach and provide people with support during a tough time. Just having someone who will listen and take an interest in you can really make a big difference to someone’s wellbeing.
During the pandemic many have had to work virtually and not even meet their team face to face. The Reconnections GW team have only ever worked from home, this has shown us how effective the service can be, we have also been lucky enough to meet outdoors on a few occasions to test out our events gazebo and recently enjoyed a team meeting out together. Being able to do these things when we can has reminded me of the value of having the freedom to do this and it’s something that would be great to be able to provide for people feeling lonely and isolated in our service once it is safe enough.
Now restrictions are easing, we are able to do visits and outdoor events, which is really exciting as it will add so much more to the service being able to see people face to face. It also means that we will be able to explore so many more local clubs and activities that people may be interested in. We haven’t been able to get people started with many clubs/activities yet but through phone calls, writing and visits some people have built up the confidence and motivation to join themselves, when restrictions allow them to, they also have all the information they need to get in touch.
In my role I pick up referrals and ask people if they would like to work with us and find out little bit more about them at this stage. After they have been with us for around 3 months, I call to see how they are doing and what their experience has been like. It has been really great to see the difference in several people we’ve worked with, in their first call many have been very down and, in some cases, sometimes feel their life is not worth living. However, when I have called back in 3 months after their calls with caseworkers and in some cases volunteer matches, they seem so much more hopeful for the future, and especially at this point with restrictions easing, people have things to look forward to which makes such a difference for their wellbeing. Working with Reconnections by Independent Age over the last 6 months has really highlighted to me the importance of social and community connections and how much of a difference can be made helping someone else find them.
Reconnections by Independent Age is a volunteer-led service that supports over-65s in rediscovering their love of life in the communities where they live. Reconnections operates in Barking & Dagenham and Havering and Guildford & Waverley.
