Learning from our Keeping Connected programme

By Jade Spencer

Over the last six months, we’ve been looking to support people experiencing isolation or loneliness, or who would benefit from the opportunity to build up social and community networks around them. To do this, we’ve been developing ways to tap into peer resources. This means connecting people with peers: people who may share something in common with them, whether this be related to experience, identity, or that they have a similar goal (such as making new friends or trying new things). Our experience starting our Keeping Connected programme this year has shown us the importance of creating opportunities for people to connect as peers and form new relationships on those terms.

We decided to start small, and with something simple: putting people in touch with each other to call each other on the phone. We got 6 people together, put them into pairs, gave them each other’s name, phone number and a bit of information about each other on a postcard, and told them to give each other a call and have a chat. Much like meeting people in real life, we told everyone just to talk for as long or as short as they wanted and see what they had in common. They didn’t have to keep in touch if they didn’t want to, but if they did get along well then they could keep calling and even arrange to meet up or do something together if possible.

We checked in regularly with each person to make sure things were going well, and at the end of 6 weeks, once we had ‘connected’ everyone with three others for phone calls, we took stock of the relationships that had formed. Out of the 12 people who have now fully completed the programme, 9 of them met at least 1 person that they would be keeping in touch with beyond the programme.

Here are some reflections from members of this first network on the relationships they made through phone calls:

“We agreed, when we’re both in better health and it’s sunny, I’m going to drive her to a place she’s told me about that she used to enjoy going to, and have a coffee together.”

“I’m in the house on my own and really appreciate talking to someone else; we talk about everything and nothing! I’ve never heard about something like this before but I think it’s a good idea to connect people as peers, and it’s brilliant if we can both meet up if we agree to it.”

“We just clicked… I’ve spoken to her from bed when I can’t get up; to talk to someone else when I’m not well is really nice as sometimes I don’t get to speak to anyone when I’m at home.”

“Me and [my match] meet up regularly at the shopping centre for a coffee. Sometimes she feels low and I always tell her staying in bed all morning isn’t good for her, she needs to get up and have a cup of tea and sit in the sun! We are going on holiday together on a coach trip this September. I am really looking forward to it because I haven’t been away for years, my eyesight is very poor so [my match] is going to help me.”

Contact from staff and volunteers is light touch. We check-in if there are any issues, worries or problems and are there to support and encourage members to form new relationships. We can sometimes act as a helpful sounding board or ‘connector’ — a member might tell us they want to ask the person they’re chatting with to join them for a walk or go to a coffee morning together but they’re nervous. The prospect of facing rejection can be overwhelming, especially when you are already feeling isolated. In these situations, it can be really helpful for someone to step in and encourage them to reach out, or assure them that the other person appreciates them.

Keeping Connected doesn’t aim to provide a companionship service or to be a match-maker for members referred to the programme. Instead, we give every member the opportunity to build social networks themselves and to choose what they do or don’t do with the people they meet. Almost everyone who has taken part so far has said that one aspect of the programme they like is that they are given the choice around who they talk to and what they do with the connections they make.

Of course, this approach isn’t going to work for everyone. Someone who didn’t make any lasting connections through the programme let us know that for them, 1:1 phone calls with strangers felt too intimate and pressurised and they’d prefer to meet people in person on more neutral territory in a group. Another said they needed more support before they had the confidence to pick up the phone and make a call, and wouldn’t know what to say on the answer machine if they couldn’t get through.

As we know phone calls to connect with others don’t work for everyone, we’ve supported the creation of other social opportunities in the city, with many people preferring to start meeting in person again. In Barton, we’ve supported the launch and facilitation of two social clubs for men and women this year, and this month launched our ‘cuppa and chat’ group as part of Ark-T’s community hub days, which will be continuing monthly from now on. Looking forward, we would like to empower our participants and other people we work with to create and organise more in-person opportunities like this to support each other and meet new people.