Good Neighbours Coventry connects housebound older people (50+) who do not otherwise have visitors to volunteers befrienders, building positive relationships across Coventry.
Good Neighbours Coventry was developed in conjunction with local churches determined to tackle loneliness in older generations. It connects volunteer befrienders with a spare half hour to telephone or visit an older person.
We also run & facilitate bespoke links to around 300 social and support groups across the city.
You can refer volunteers to us - If you have a lonely person aged 18+ who is able to get out locally, with good mental capacity, they can volunteer with us.
Additional languages are especially welcome. We have had some really positive friendships built with older volunteers.
Our Activity Guides are available online - We are working hard on updating these and providing a searchable database for you. The latest versions of group guides for CV1-CV6, men, women, dementia-friendly groups, and bereavement groups can be accessed here: tinyurl.com/GNActivityGuides.
We have space at our weekly men’s groups.
We also have capacity at our Dementia groups - Memory Lane cafes
**Bedworth project has closed due to lack of volunteers**
We offer 1:1 befriending for isolated over 50s living in Coventry CV1-CV6. There is significant demand for the service, and a waiting list may be in place.
The 1:1 service is aimed at older people who are housebound. Those who live alone will be prioritised. Clients may have home visits, phone calls, local walks, or text message / postal befriending. Most volunteers do not go out e.g. to town with their older person. The befriender visits or phones on average weekly or fortnightly for 30-60 minutes.
Criteria for 1:1 befriending: The older person must actually want a befriender, be aged over 50, not living in a care home, and not experiencing severe mental illness.
The ideal client to match is:
· housebound, living alone
· a non-smoker, in a sanitary home
· age 75+
· flexible on when they have a visitor
· welcoming
· has a good enough memory to remember the volunteer
· will engage with conversations on different topics.
Clients who don’t fit this profile will take longer to match because they are usually less appealing to a volunteer befriender.
The client must not pose a risk to volunteers through threatening, unsafe or discriminatory behaviour; criminal history; or unsafe home circumstances. We cannot facilitate two-person visits.
Volunteers do not provide personal care, respite care, or shopping.