Linda Clarke – Telephone Befriender.

Linda Clarke who is a telephone befriender for one lady and a visiting befriender for another.

“I have been a volunteer for Sight Concern for 18 months, as a telephone befriender for one lady and a visitor for another. Having given up full time work at the start of Covid, I wanted to volunteer with Sight Concern in particular, as it was a service much appreciated by my late father who was registered blind and lived alone. I could see how the friendships he made and access to important aids through Sight Concern helped enable him to remain independent in his own home.

Being a volunteer can be a vital link to the outside world for many people suffering with sight loss. In return it is a great way to create new friendships with other volunteers and the people you are matched with. If you are thinking of volunteering but are worried about chatting to complete strangers, rest assured, that is exactly how I felt before I started. In reality, conversation has never been an issue and time just flies by. Training is offered by Sight Concern, and they can give you conversation tips and ideas to help you get started.

Both my contacts are lovely ladies in their 80’s who live alone and suffer some sight loss. We seem to find plenty to chat and laugh about and I enjoy hearing tales of their interesting lives and families. The lady I visit is quite mobile, so we have enjoyed National Trust and garden center visits, walks around local villages, shopping and we usually manage to fit in café visit for a pot of tea and cake. When we cannot get out, we might stay in and play scrabble, look at photographs and even write out Christmas cards, or just sit and chat. “

Hazel Shaw  – Sight Concern Trustee and Telephone Befriender

Derek Webster – Visiting Befriender

“I like making the weekly commitment. I walk with four different people, and they are great company. The eldest is 90yrs and very fit. He is also a Radio 4 and Archer’s fan, so we always seem to have a lot to talk about.

With another we have both become interested in golf for the blind because before losing his sight he played golf. This has been good fun for both of us visiting a golf driving range. He has still got it.

I walk with someone who has lost peripheral vision and is in his late eighties. He is keeping fit and gets out and about every day. When we walk together, we both share an interest in architecture, and he knows a lot.

I walk with someone who has three dogs, and though sighted loses her bearings when out in open spaces. Seeing the dogs has been fun. They know me now and they are characters.

So, the small commitment gives me a lot. I feel part of other lives and it is stimulating.  I also phone someone once a week. I am lucky because I am not great on the phone but the lady I phone is always chatty and makes it easy for me. Again, I like that routine and being a small part in someone else’s life.

I did consider other volunteer activities, but I am glad I do this because it is one on one. It gets me out of myself. There is a shape to the week, and it is stimulating sharing time with other people. I recommend it.”

Caroline Attwood-Reusser – Editor of the Malvern Talking News

“Being editor of the Malvern Talking News means that fortnightly I review a variety of local news sources. I select a set of articles both serious and cheerful and I send them out to a team of readers. They then record those, and they are sent on for publication in a variety media so they can be consumed by partially sighted people in and around Malvern.

Why do I do this? Well during lockdown I was looking for a way to help people who might feel lonely or disconnected. When the Malvern Talking News was relaunched This role emerged, and I was able to do it. The role is interesting as it gives me the opportunity to really connect with the local news and it is also a job that being desk based can be done easily around other activities. I can do it in in front of the TV and may also do it when I am away from home.

Along with the rest of the Malvern Talking News team I believe we are providing local interesting information to partially sighted people in Malvern and beyond and I would recommend volunteering to anyone who has a bit of time, wants to make a difference no matter how small that difference may be. Thank you.”