With around 200,000 older people in the UK not having had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month, Martlets hopes to raise awareness and help people connect in our community.
What are Compassionate Neighbours?
Compassionate neighbours are trained volunteers offering friendship and a listening ear to anyone living in their community who is lonely, at risk of isolation and has been touched by end of life issues.
Due to the pandemic, now more than ever, it is a particularly important to support people who may be more at risk of becoming isolated. As a Compassionate Neighbour, you’ll be providing much-needed social and emotional support to someone near you helping them stay connected to their community.
After attending a two-day training course (usually Saturdays) you’ll be matched with someone based on shared likes, interests, and experiences. You’ll get regular support to help you develop your skills and confidence.
All training and ongoing mentoring is provided free of charge, we only ask that you have the time – from around 30 minutes a week – and the compassion
What will I be doing?
As a Compassionate Neighbour you will:
- Offer friendship, emotional support, and a listening ear to your Community Member(s) - these will be Martlet’s patients or their carers
- Making regular phone calls, usually once a week at a day and time that suits you
- Possibly meeting face to face in homes or in the community (depending on Covid guidelines and personal preferences and abilities
- Help people stay connected to the community as well as family and friends
Areas we cover
Compassionate Neighbours will be matched with Martlets patients and carers in the following areas:
- Brighton and Hove
- Portslade
- Rottingdean
- Woodingdean
- Saltdean
- Peacehaven
- Newhaven
Could you be a Compassionate Neighbour?
If you think you’ve got what it takes to take on this very rewarding role, we’d love to hear from you.
You would need to:
- Be friendly and compassionate and enjoy talking with people
- Attend one of the training courses over two dates listed below
- Ideally be able to commit to regular calls of a minimum of 30 minutes per week to someone local to you
- Attend a monthly catch up and development meeting as often as you are able
- Be willing to give up your time on a regular basis.
- Following the training, complete application and pre-registration checks including DBS, references, and vaccination status.
If you're interested in becoming a Compassionate Neighbour, you can register below for one of our upcoming training sessions
- Training sessions coming soon.
If you would like more information, please contact our People Services team.
