Befriending charity sees surge in volunteers and secures National Lottery funding to cope with demand

A charity, based in Winsford, has secured National Lottery funding after seeing a massive uptake in volunteers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changing Lives Together, which runs several services across Cheshire, has been inundated with volunteers looking to join their Buddy & Befriending scheme.

The group recently received a grant of over £70,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. Thanks to this vital funding the group can expand its intergenerational befriending service, so it can keep people of all ages connected during lockdown.

The project, which matches local volunteers to people with similar interests to them, has adapted its service as the people it has matched have been unable to meet up face-to-face due to the restrictions brought by lockdown.

Many of them have struck up genuine friendships and have continued to stay in touch throughout the pandemic, including 21-year-old, Charlotte Collins-Jones, who has volunteered for the Buddy & Befriending scheme for just under a year and speaks to her ‘befriendee’ on a weekly basis. The law student found out about the opportunity through her university looking for volunteering opportunities.

Charlotte Collins-Jones, Volunteer at Changing Lives Together, said: “I was particularly interested in this opportunity because I had seen reports about the elderly being increasingly lonely and felt that if that was one of my grandparents, I’d want them to have someone to talk to.

“Many people say that older and younger generations don’t get along, but the befriending service has shown me that we do have things in common. Me and my ‘befriendee’ always have plenty to talk about, and the experience has been very rewarding. Most people these days have two main social bubbles, their family and their friends. Being part of the befriending service has introduced me to someone outside of these bubbles, and that has been quite refreshing. Also, I am quite a shy person normally, and I find it difficult to connect with new people, but this opportunity has helped my confidence to grow.”

The project currently boasts 124 volunteers and the charity continues to receive referrals from volunteers looking to do their part to reduce loneliness. The growing popularity of the project has even seen the waiting time for people to be matched up dramatically reduced, from 65 days to just two days.

The charity has also started a shopping and prescription collection service for local people who are too vulnerable to leave their homes.

The news of this funding was announced during Loneliness Awareness Week (15 – 19 June) which seeks to raise awareness of loneliness, break the stigma attached to it and encourage people to speak about the issue opening. It also follows new research* from the Office of National Statistics showing that more than 7 million people in the UK admitted their wellbeing has been affected due to feeling lonely as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Thanks to National Lottery players, almost £6 million of National Lottery funding has gone to more than 400 projects tackling loneliness and social isolation across England since the lockdown began, enabling them to provide people with much-needed support.

Tracey Walford, Project Manager, at Changing Lives Together, said: “Our volunteers have been amazing, and we owe the great success of the project to the work that they do every week keeping in touch with their befriendees. It has undoubtedly been one of the most successful projects run by our charity in recent years.

“Lots of our volunteers have felt that the current crisis has brought loneliness and isolation more to the forefront.”

Duncan Nicholson, Head of Funding for North West, at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to fund thousands of projects working in many ways to help reduce loneliness and isolation in the UK. As we all adapt to profound changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling stigma around loneliness and making it okay to ask for help are more important than ever.

“Loneliness is affecting people from all walks of life while we are physically apart in these difficult times. Groups such as Changing Lives Together are a powerful force for good – supporting people to connect, reducing feelings of isolation and helping communities come together in new and inspiring ways.”

Going forward, The National Lottery Community Fund will continue to prioritise getting funding to groups best placed to support their communities at this vital time and also towards those seeking to rebuild as the crisis abates.

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Last year it awarded over half a billion pounds (£511.1 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK and supported over 12,000 projects to turn their great ideas into reality. 90% of the grants it makes are for under £10,000 – going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are bringing to life amazing ideas that matter to their communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk