'My client can't visit his wife in her care home - he relies on my phone calls!

Ruth first started befriending for Age UK Barnet after a period of depression and loneliness when she felt that she could use what she learnt to help others. During the pandemic, she has continued with phone befriending and is also shopping and picking up prescriptions.

I started volunteering for Age UK when I was coming out of a difficult period in my life, in which I’d suffered from depression and loneliness, and I wanted to try to pull something positive out of my experience. 

The lovely lady I befriend lives about a 20 minute walk from my house so it’s perfect. Before COVID, I would visit each week for about an hour when I sit in her (usually very warm) front room with a cup of tea and we chat about everything!

'She’s got loads of stories about the war, and loves reminiscing about her late husband. Just before VE day celebrations we had a lovely chat about her memories of VE day. Just to listen sounds like nothing – but I really think she gains a lot from it: she doesn’t have family nearby and finds it hard to get out and about, so these weekly connections are her only real opportunity to vent about whatever is on her mind. Sometimes it’s old holidays, old celebrities she met years ago (I never know who they are) and sometimes it’s how rude the gas man was last week.

'But it has never felt like a chore. I’ve also taken her out to the cinema and to lunch when the weather has been good. She told me that she hadn’t been to the cinema in more than a decade. On the way home, she cried because she’d had such a lovely time and a break from the monotony. She didn’t think much of the film though (Little Women.…).

'Since COVID, I’ve helped her a little more with shopping and posting her letters and I call her twice a week for a chat and check she is ok.  

'I am also supporting another older gentleman during COVID. He has underlying health conditions but survived corona virus in hospital. I help out with a bit of shopping and collecting his prescriptions, but again, it’s mainly the social contact and phone calls he relies on.

'He tells me he is alone in his house - his wife is in a care home and he has been told they won’t accept any visitors. It’s all quite overwhelming for him. He loves to chat about his dad who was a dancer in the early days of showbiz in the 1930s, and his passion for 1950s films. I've also done the odd job for other vulnerable people nearby such as collecting prescriptions. 

Before the coronavirus, I also helped out with craft mornings at the Ann Owens Centre. I love sewing and crafting so more than anything - I consider it a free class for me! I hope these can start again soon.

'Most of the older people attending don’t care too much about what activity they are doing, it’s the social contact with each other and with the helpers that they look forward to (and I’ve seen some really terrible craft products made… but the joy that goes into making them is what counts I’m sure).'