Our Here to Talk service is a telephone befriending service. One of our friendly volunteers will phone you regularly, to check in on how you’re doing and have a chat about anything you’d like to talk about.
We know that unpaid carers are at high risk of feeling lonely and isolated. It’s not surprising, as many spend a lot of time at home with the person they care for. When you became a carer, you may have started to feel like your life was moving in a different direction to that of your friends. When you do speak to other people, you might feel like you don’t want to put a downer on the conversation by talking about how things are for you as a carer.
How Here to Talk can help
Our Here to Talk volunteers are all fully trained and DBS checked. The majority are former carers themselves but all are great listeners regardless of their own life experiences.
Befriending isn’t counselling and your volunteer will follow your lead in what you’d like to chat about. Carers tell us that it’s really nice to have someone to chat to that isn’t a friend or family member, as it allows them to really open up and talk about things they might not normally with people they know.
Joy’s story
Joy is an unpaid carer who has looked after several of her family members. She said she felt burnt out during the first lockdown and was missing the carer group meetings that she had previously attended regularly. She said:
“I was a bit sceptical initially, but we have got on wonderfully. I am stuck in the middle of the countryside and am no longer able to drive. I don’t have many people to talk to. We talk about all sorts of things, happy and sad. It has been a lifeline and I look forward to the phone call.”
