Kirkcaldy charity's plea for volunteers to help isolated people

Now, it is appealing for more volunteers as the coronavirus pandemic is leaving more older people increasingly isolated.

Initially, at the start of lockdown, numbers coming forward rose as many people, who were furloughed from work, volunteered to support a ‘friend’ in the community, helping immensely at a time when referrals increased.

But with the furlough scheme coming to an end, and more people returning to work, those numbers have dropped.

Volunteers provide support to their ‘friends’ by offering weekly telephone support, weekly shopping deliveries, and as lockdown restrictions ease face-to-face visits.

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During lockdown, CSC also supplied ‘friends’ with activity packs from the British Red Cross and volunteers family members also wrote regular letters as well as a pen pal scheme with letters written by senior pupils from Balwearie High School.

Teresa Naylor, service manager said: “It only takes a small amount of time to make a huge difference to someone’s day. It is sad to hear a person say that no one bothers or cares about them because they are old, or that they are on the scrap heap.

“As people returned to work volunteer numbers have dropped. We would like to increase our volunteer base to continue to provide this much needed support in the community.

“Following government and NHS guidelines we are slowly beginning to provide the much needed one-to-one human interaction and stimulation that so many older people need.

For more information please visit: Care and Share

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