Telephone Befriending Service

At the commencement of the pandemic we increased our Telephone Befriending Service to support Hounslow residents.  Initially we received funding from Hounslow Council, then the National Lottery and as time went on we received a percentage of donations made by the public to Age UK London from TV Adverts and Age UK Lottery payments.  In addition Age UK Hounslow also allocated its own funding throughout.  All this financially supported the Telephone Befriending Service from April 2020.

Since April 1^st 2020 we have contacted over 2000 Hounslow residents of which 537 did not want the service initially - 1146 residents are currently being contacted weekly/fortnighty or monthly (as their choice) by a team of 66 Telephone Befrienders who have been recruited, inducted, trained and are delivering the calls.  225 residents have ended the calls due to a variety of reasons and 107 have sadly passed away.

Our staff have adapted to new ways of working from home and are all assisting in the delivery of the Telephone Befriending Service.  The service offers an informal weekly chat but also information and advice and other areas of support which are vital to so many elderly and vulnerable residents, especially at this unpresented time.