Kirkcaldy companionship charity voices fears for seniors over new lockdown

The charity was launch in 2019 after it was identified that there was a need for support for older people in the area.

Teresa Naylor, founder, said: “I don’t think anyone was surprised when the new lockdown measures were introduced. It has been very challenging and frustrating for us to find new ways to support our seniors as they thrive on one-to-one visits from our volunteers.

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"A lot of people we visit are now completely isolated, meaning that their mental and emotional health will suffer greatly.

"We have been making regular phone calls to the people we support, but I fear that this is not enough, the situation is really quite dire.

"We have looked at the possibility of providing people with digital devices such as tablets and laptops to try and keep them connected, but most of them are not tech savvy as they are from a different generation, and there is also the issue that none of our volunteers are able to enter their home to teach them how to use it.”

Teresa adds that even though the situation is frustrating, there is hope that the Covid vaccine will be successful.

"We can only do what we can to support our seniors and hope that the vaccine will be effective,” she added “If everyone was to follow the rules we can get through this pandemic quicker,”

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