143 - Turning £500 into £1000 for Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care Good Neighbour scheme via The Big Give - Dec 2023

 This week we can tell you about donation 143, which has been made to the charity Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care (SCCCC) to help them with the fantastic work they do supporting older isolated people in Sheffield. 

This week we can tell you about donation 143, which has been made to the charity Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care (SCCCC) to help them with the fantastic work they do supporting older isolated people in Sheffield. 


SCCCC currently has around 165 volunteers matched with older people but has a waiting list of over 200 people waiting to be matched. They keep in touch with them with regular phone support and also send them post via a penpal scheme whilst they recruit and train more volunteers to help meet the demand - but it is hard for them knowing there are so many lonely people waiting to get access to a befriender. 


SCCCC are taking part in the The Big Give funding campaign, where donations made this week are matched - making our £500 donation worth £1000.  They want to use the additional funds raised to boost their training programme so that they can get more volunteers ready to be matched with those on the waiting list.


The following is an example of the kind of impact they can have through their Good Neighbour Scheme


Frank was referred to the Good Neighbour Scheme on discharge from hospital. He had been a widower for two years after being happily married for fifty.   


Prior to the pandemic, he visited a lunch club once a week, and his daughter also visited him weekly. He used to love gardening, football and cricket. We were worried about him becoming more isolated during the first lockdown as his family struggled to visit as often and his health wasn't very good. One of the Good Neighbour Scheme team members called him fortnightly to ensure he was well and that he had everything he needed. He also enjoyed receiving pen pal letters, cards, and pictures from volunteers of all ages via the charity. 


Always very stoic and not wanting to cause fuss or bother, Frank did enjoy a chat and was always grateful for someone checking in on him. He always wanted to know how you were and showed genuine interest in what you had been up to.  One of the students working with us called him and he said he had been in pain for weeks but hadn't told anyone (not even his family) as he didn't want to cause a fuss.  Our Good Neighbour Scheme team leader called him back to discuss further as we were worried about him (due to his previous history) and he allowed her to call his GP to get some help and advice. He was seen by the GP the following day and admitted to hospital. 


We were extremely grateful that he had opened up to us and allowed us to help him get the help he needed.   For 8 months, Frank received telephone support from Graham and Brian - two of our fantastic volunteers.  He really enjoyed their company and chat, and they had a great relationship. 


We also kept in touch with Frank's daughter during this period as he had been in and out of hospital. Unfortunately he passed away and we subsequently received this lovely letter from his grandson Matt: 


"A truly inspirational and caring organisation who take immense pride in the service that they provide…After my Grandad Frank lost my nan and like so many started to find himself spending many of his days alone. My grandad had very limited mobility so couldn't get out much and with all of us (his family) working full-time it was difficult to spend as much time with him as we would have liked to. This is where SCCCC really supported him with regular contact, be that for a chat or to see if he needed anything. He would receive birthday and Christmas cards which really brightened up his day. Sometimes the little things can make all the difference to someone's life. My Grandad passed away peacefully just before Christmas with us all around him. I can't thank SCCCC enough for the genuine care and compassion shown to my grandad and the many others that they support. Thank you to everyone at SCCCC - I am eternally grateful." 



We were pleased to be able to help SCCCC in the Big Give (which is open until midday on 5th December) and support the wonderful work they do.

https://donate.biggive.org/christmas-challenge-2023



Best wishes

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