Link Age Southwark is a vibrant local charity providing friendly volunteer support to over 800 isolated, older people in Southwark.
We combat loneliness and isolation and bring cheer to older people's lives, improving their health and wellbeing. We do this by offering:
Link Age Southwark helps older people stay connected with their communities, alleviating loneliness, improving health and wellbeing and making communities stronger through volunteering.
We are a volunteering charity and we recruit, train and support volunteers to deliver the following services:
- BefriendingVolunteer befrienders regularly visit an older person to offer one-to-one friendship and social contact. That could be a cup of tea, a walk or reading a newspaper together. We also support people with mild to moderate dementia and offer specific training to those befriending volunteers.
- Social group supportWe run 24 groups for older people across Southwark. These include a Book Club, Computer sessions, Reminiscence and Gentle Exercise.
- TransportGetting from A-B can be a challenge for older people. Volunteer drivers help them keep social appointments, attend our activity groups and maintain a social life.
- Gardening & odd job helpOur volunteers help older people with light gardening including cutting the lawn, weeding a flowerbed or trimming hedges. They also help with odd jobs in the home, such as changing a light bulb or hanging curtains.
- Telephone befriending A lot of people who are lonely really appreciate a call now and again for a chat and to put the world to rights! Our new telephone befriending service would suit a volunteer who is busy or can't get out of the house themselves.- Fundraising and eventsBringing in vital funds to keep our work going is essential. Volunteers raise funds by suggesting events, distributing publicity, helping on stalls and making stock to sell.
- Office administrationVolunteers can keep our services running smoothly by helping with office administration, or by providing graphic design and website design assistance.
