Legacy
Legacy
Please note: this post is 96 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only
A veteran of our Winter Wellbeing project, Elyssa’s just joined the South London Cares team full-time. Here, she shares some highlights from five months of outreach, and why she’s excited to be South London Cares’ new Volunteer and Outreach Co-Ordinator. In her new role she's responsible for developing, deepening and expanding our community network of volunteers and their older neighbours.
Working on North and South London Cares’ Winter Wellbeing projects, I got to see London from a new perspective. I was up early on crisp mornings knocking on people’s doors and bounding through the frosty afternoons speaking to local businesses. I was interacting with people on the streets, in GP surgeries, in supermarkets and pharmacies, and identifying and helping those who needed a hand with housing, finance, heating, or who wanted to get involved with social activities in their area. Outreach can be demanding – and freezing – but it is so rewarding. Here’s why:
Setting friendship in motion
In my first week of outreach, I knocked on a door in West Norwood, and met Amina, 85. Amina lives alone, and her health conditions were preventing her from getting out and about. When I told her about South London Cares’ Love Your Neighbour programme her eyes lit up: she was so excited at the idea of making a new friend. We’ve since matched her with a brilliant volunteer, Victoria, who visits her once a week. Victoria brought her flowers and soup on her first visit, and Amina told us, “I’m so touched… It’s so nice to know there are people who care.” Seeing friendships like this develop, and knowing when I’m doing outreach that people I meet will get the joys of meeting our volunteers, and vice versa, always inspires me to spread the word about South London Cares and set friendship in motion.
The best advice
When chatting with older neighbours I’ve found you are often gifted with the best advice – people from all walks of life generously sharing pearls of wisdom. When I visited Shelagh, 82, to help her pay her council tax online, she told me that when times are hard we should accept where we are, and be kind to ourselves – all we can do is our best. These are inspiring words which I’ll always carry with me.
Understanding London
Having grown up in Poole, London always seemed incomprehensibly huge! I always assumed that because there was a tube line the places must be far apart but still today I am finding out that one minute you can be walking near Lambeth North and the next you are walking through Kennington on the way to Elephant and Castle, and you can even see the Houses of Parliament poking out above the houses. For many of our older neighbours, who’ve lived in London for seventy, eighty, or even ninety plus years, this may be obvious. But for me it’s all new! I love finding out how each place is connected and walking through the houses looking at how new and old buildings make up the area – and getting the local histories from people who’ve called Peckham or Brixton home for years.
Togetherness is something that has always been important to me: creating connections to people and places and making the most of what the world has to offer. So I feel fortunate to have found an organisation that embodies this. Whether I’m pounding the pavements talking to older neighbours, or meeting new volunteers at an induction, I can’t wait to get stuck into my role and to welcome members into our Cares family.