Introducing Emily, our new Programme Coordinator (Social Clubs)

Please note: this post is 83 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Emily’s been volunteering and leading our creative writing social club for the past year: we’re very excited she’s now joining the South London Cares team as our new Programme Coordinator (Social Clubs). 

A few months ago, I was skipping home from leading the Creative Writing club in Clapham. I’d already been leading the club for a year and had been trying very hard not to get carried away with the hope those Thursdays brought to my life. That night however, everything changed.

John and Tony were celebrating their birthdays at the club, and I felt totally honoured they’d chosen to spend their evenings with me. It also hit home just how important Social Clubs truly were – what might our older neighbours be doing to celebrate if there hadn’t been anything to go to that evening? Something as special as a birthday might slip by unmarked. So that night I gave into my hopes. If there was ever the chance to join the South London Cares team full time, I wanted in!

After one week at South London Cares, I’m still in total disbelief that my dreaming has become a reality. I’ve spent my first week grooving to ABBA with Bola at Desert Island Discs, cracking up with Anna at Script Reading and being entertained by Michael at Creative Writing. I’ve got a hundred new pals who I can’t wait to get to know better and I can feel my south London roots deepening by the day.

Now let me confess something – I sometimes find London a very lonely place. All the things that make our capital great can also make it really isolating too. It’s busy and vibrant and has endless possibilities, but when the majority of your week has been spent behind a desk hardly meeting anyone, or your commute home is consumed by scrolling through social media ogling at other people’s seemingly incredibly fun lives, it’s easy to feel defeated by the pace of it all.

What attracted me most to this role is that South London Cares dispel the myth that loneliness is just a concern among older neighbours. Though people over 75 are the loneliest age group in the UK, the next loneliest are people between 21 and 25 and 25 and 35. It’s not always easy to talk about when so often young people have hundreds of social connections, but it really is possible to feel lonely in a room full of your friends when everyone’s competing to be heard.

At Social Clubs, it’s so wonderful to help foster, and be part of, conversations where you feel valued and listened to. Older neighbours genuinely care about your day, and though you might arrive in a flap from a sweaty tube journey and a stressful day, you forget all about it after catching up with Peter, Frances, Carol and the gang. The effort you make to come is rewarded with incredible tales of south London, boundless creativity and enthusiasm, and genuine support and affection.

I can’t wait to meet you all over a tipple at Pub Club and for a boogie in West Norwood. I’ll be the one armed with name badges, tea and a “I-can’t-believe-I’m-so-lucky” smile!