Compassionate Neighbours turns five

We recently celebrated the 5th anniversary of our Compassionate Neighbours service. From relatively humble beginnings, we now have 200+ incredible volunteers visiting lonely and isolated people every week.

Compassionate Neighbours was introduced to provide support to community members who may be experiencing loneliness or social isolation. They are matched with a volunteer who could support them by visiting regularly for a chat, offering friendship and a listening ear, helping them to do the things they like doing, and helping them stay connected to the community.

Manager Jeanette trained our first cohort of Compassionate Neighbours back in 2018 and the service has since flourished. It now includes our weekly wellbeing hubs which provide a welcoming space for people to come together, join a seated exercise group and take part in creative and fun activities.

Here are just some of the mind-blowing figures the service has achieved over the last five years:

1,200 referrals	425 volunteers	821 matches	7 wellbeing hubs	150 hub attendees

We recently held a party for our Compassionate Neighbours to celebrate their incredible achievements. There, our Community Engagement Lead, Richard, shared just how proud he is of what has been accomplished:

"The service has been a roaring success and everyone involved should be congratulated. The part they play helps engage people with hospice services much earlier on.

"Here's to the next five years!"