Helping people connect with their community

Making connections with the wider community is important in helping combat the sense of isolation. 

Older people can very quickly experience a disconnect from the wider community when their opportunities for interaction are reduced. Engage Befriending seek to match each older person with someone with common interests and who also lives close by.

Simply having a visitor from the local community goes a long way in helping to reduce isolation and loneliness. Being able to share knowledge of the local area and, where this is possible, actually going out into the community, makes such a difference.

Community activities may be provided solely for the older person such as a luncheon club or activity session, or they may be an opportunity to interact with other generations in a community setting e.g. a community cafe or drop in, visit to the supermarket, or library.

Engage Befriending is building a network of relationships with community activities across the communities in Reading to help facilitate increasing interaction amongst peers and across the generations.