Clive

Clive is passionate about reducing loneliness in his community and has visited more than one older person. He also joins us regularly at Community Kitchen.

When I volunteered for Link a number of years ago, it was because I felt a bit of an outsider in my community. I came back here after 30+ years away and work from home, so wasn’t able to get out much and connect with others locally. So I contacted Link, knowing that loneliness can be a real issue for older people. (My mother had passed away a few years before after living alone here for ten years.)

I also saw it as an opportunity to give something back to the place where I now live, and where I grew up over 50 years ago. What I hadn’t counted on was the sheer pleasure it gives me, and the joy of having others share their life stories and experiences with me. The two ladies I visit are both amazing: they have led fascinating lives, and are both opinionated, funny and highly resilient. No shrinking violets, either of them! They may live alone and crave company, but they certainly don’t indulge in an ounce of self-pity or pessimism. The result is we always have a great time together, and I go away as well nourished by friendship as they do.

So if you are thinking of volunteering in a way that directly benefits your community and some of the more rewarding and deserving individuals in it, Link is about as good as it gets.

What do you most often do with your Link friend?

With one, we sit and talk, and I do some simple favours like replacing batteries or changing light bulbs. With the other, we go out and get lunch, generally at a garden centre.