Telephone friends go on line

A FREE telephone befriending services for more than 2,000 housing group tenants has been launched at Warrington.
Silver Talk has been started by the Warrington-based Your Housing Group using a team of 10 specially trained volunteers, who are all tenants.
The service is based at the St Paul’s Court sheltered housing scheme in Bewsey Road.
It’s the second Silver Talk service in the North West and follows the success of the Merseyside initiative launched last April.
Designed to combat loneliness, the service involves the volunteers
volunteers calling fellow tenants who have signed up to the service every Thursday and offer help, support and a listening ear.Volunteers will spend up to half an hour on each call and will make notes so when they next ring they are able to pick up the conversation from the previous week and check how medical appointments or family visits went.
Andrew Edwards, the group’s community projects manager, said: “We believe it matters to natter. To get a call every week to keep in touch and make sure everything is alright can make a real difference to some people’s lives if they live alone or are perhaps caring for someone with dementia.
“Some people just fancy a chat and others need specific advice. We will also take referrals from friends and neighbours as long as they know we’re going to be calling.”
Volunteer Dot Brown (right), chairman of the health and wellbeing champion’s panel, said: “I am a trained counsellor and did similar work for a number of years prior to my early retirement. This is an opportunity to do something with the skills I have, to benefit older and vulnerable people in the local community.”
To find out more about Your Housing Group’s Silver Talk scheme call James Coates on 07795 471359 or email [email protected]
Pictured: (l-r): Volunteers Mandy France from Birchwood, Jacquiline Booth, Your Housing Group Scheme Manager at St Paul’s Court and Dorothy Richards from Warrington.