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A new charity initiative aimed at promoting friendship and combatting loneliness in older people has been set up in partnership with Age Concern.
'Be My Friend' has been launched by Samantha Rawlinson, who is aiming to bring people with similar interests together through a matching service.
Pictured: Samantha works as a Coroner’s Officer in the States of Jersey Police.
This will then allow elderly islanders to connect with others over things they both enjoy – such as physical activities, TV programmes, or even going to the pub.
Coroner's Officer Samantha – who worked in care homes before starting a career in policing – said she is “passionate about old people”.
She got in touch with local charity Age Concern as she wanted to do something in Jersey to encourage friendship and combat social isolation.
Samantha was initially inspired by UK scheme 'Adopt a Grandparent', but wanted to incorporate more of a personal touch in the process.
“The UK one is mainly online based with Facetime calls," she said. "I thought it would be better to set up a more face-to-face version [in Jersey] to get people out and about.”
Samantha explained that people will be paired together based on mutual interests.
She said: “Whether that is taking an older lady for a cup of tea or an older gentleman, who tend to be more insular, to the pub for a pint or to watch the football – that’s what this is about.
“Or, we could match someone up with somebody who loves Coronation Street, and then they could have a ten minute phone call about every episode!
“It’s about fitting people together that have different likes and dislikes and they can decide on their own activities.”
Explaining the motivation behind her new charity, Samantha said she has always been “really mindful of how loneliness affects the older community” due to having to keep in touch with her grandparents who live in the UK.
“Especially having worked in care homes and assisted those who have lost loved ones late in life and have no other family, I feel like I can relate to them,” she added.
Pictured: Having worked in care homes and having a close relationship with her own grandparents, Samantha feels she can relate to elderly people.
Juggling a demanding job at the same time as launching her new charity, Samantha highlighted how her supportive network of colleagues and loved ones has allowed her to start Be My Friend.
“If I have a bad day and have dealt with a grieving family, I know that I’m going to come home and do something positive [with the charity],” she said.
Be My Friend is aimed at the older and retired communities, but anyone who may need extra social integration can also get involved.
“This could be for anybody,” Samantha added.
“You could have someone in their fifties and lonely who would benefit from the service.
“We are not putting any age limit on this at all. It is aimed at the older community, but I think it should help as many people as possible.”
The charity is set to launch with an initial group of volunteers and beneficiaries, and then will slowly expand to organise regular events such as afternoon teas.
Working in affiliation with Age Concern, the initiative will also be supported by St John’s Ambulance and their “buddy system”, Samantha added.
Chair of Age Concern, Ben Shenton described Be My Friend as a “marvellous initiative”.
He said: “We were delighted when Samantha contacted us because we are well aware of the growing problem of loneliness on the island.
“Especially with the number of children who are forced to move away to have an affordable life.
“We are fully supportive of this new charity and will be doing everything to support her.”
The charity is actively looking for volunteers – who can be any age or from any background – to commit to weekly or fortnightly time with their matched older person.
“Once we’re a bit more settled we will look to see what venues will help us host events and get as many people together to interact with each other,” said Samantha.
Anybody interested in volunteering or using the Be My Friend service can get in touch online HERE.
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