A little time can make a big difference

Please note: this post is 119 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

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Our Winter Wellbeing project in Southwark and Lambeth is well underway. Volunteers and our core team are identifying and supporting older neighbours who could benefit from a little extra warmth, activity, connection and companionship during this bitterly cold snap. Here, Will Rees writes beautifully about his experience on the project so far - and why this campaign matters.

If ever you should find yourself door-knocking for South London Cares you will acquire many interesting and exotic new facts. You will learn, for instance, that nine miles walked in circles while more lost than you’d care to admit feels significantly less than nine miles walked in a straight line, but that afterwards you’ll feel just as tired. That days spent outside go faster. That the temperature fluctuates by the minute, and that the logistics of layering can be a minefield.

You will learn that that there are people, possibly on your street, who have been sat behind unassuming doors for days, without seeing a soul.

You will learn that rain can last for 30 seconds, or three hours, and there’s no way of telling until it stops; and that when rain stops it can start again in 30 seconds, or three hours, or not at all, and that there’s no way of telling until it starts, or doesn’t.

That £6 can buy you a very good all-day breakfast in a Southwark café; relatedly, that it can buy you a very bad one. That sometimes just a short conversation is enough to remind someone that they’ve not been forgotten; that many long friendships start with short conversations.

That there is no upper age-limit on weighing-in on the “selfie-stick” debate, and that some people, way into their 70s, will still insist that you pull their finger. That there are people, old enough to remember two world wars, who still call their parents “mummy” and “daddy”.

You will learn the importance of strong black coffee.

Most importantly of all, you will learn how many vulnerable older people live in Southwark and Lambeth; but thankfully you will also learn how easily, often with nothing more than a little time, many of them can be helped to feel warmer, healthier, more active and better connected through winter, the most isolating time of year.