104 - Helping SCCCC with their work supporting older isolated people - Dec 2022

 For donation 104 we managed to make another donation to a cause nominated by one of our members within the Big Give scheme, meaning our £250 will have been matched.

We have supported the charity Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care (SCCCC) to help their important and vital work supporting older isolated people in Sheffield.

SCCCC’s befriending project aims to help tackle loneliness and isolation amongst one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Their target group are older people in Sheffield – those aged 65+, however many are in their 80’s and 90’s. So many older people they work with may not speak to anyone else if it wasn't for their volunteers.  Many are unable to get out of their own homes through poor health and /or poor mobility as well as the many other factors that cause loneliness and isolation such as the death of their partner and friends or no longer being the centre of their family.

SCCCC currently has around 140 volunteers matched with older people but has a waiting list of over 100 people waiting to be matched. They are keeping in touch with them with regular phone support and also sending them post via their penpal scheme whilst they recruit and train more volunteers to help meet the demand.  The money raised through this Big Give campaign will help them fund the training of more volunteers to reduce the waiting list.

Our member shared details of an example of someone who has been supported, which gives such an insight into the valuable work being done.

SCCCC helped a man in his 90s who does not speak English. The SCCCC co-ordinator visited him, communicating in Urdu throughout the visit. She explained the purpose of her visit and put him at ease by asking him questions about his background in Pakistan. They chatted about where he is from in Pakistan, where she is from, and when they both last visited Pakistan. He spoke about how life is so boring and difficult for him now as there is nothing to do. He appreciated that our worker was able to speak in Urdu to him and towards the end of the visit he specifically said “I really liked that you have been able to speak to me in Urdu”.

 

They were able to match this man with a male Urdu speaking Pakistani volunteer who lives in the area. Such an important part of SCCCC’s befriending support is ensuring they recruit and train volunteers with additional language skills or from various cultural backgrounds.

We were pleased to be able to donate towards SCCCC’s important work supporting older people in our community when they need help.https://scccc.co.uk/