Six months on… - South London Cares

Please note: this post is 137 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

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Today South London Cares has been up and running for six months! Our brilliant volunteers hosted our first social club on 22nd August last year, and have helped us go from start up to grown up so quickly...

We set out to begin growing a new network of young professionals living or working in south London who would spend time, offer time and practical support and create new connections with their older neighbours.

We're following in the footsteps of our sister charity North London Cares in contributing to the community connections which can help to improve resilience and confidence as well as bring fun new experiences. These things make life enjoyable and fulfilling, but for older people living in urban yet isolated situations, they can sometimes be harder to come by.

From Elephant and Castle to Peckham, Brixton and Stockwell to Dulwich, Bermondsey, Kennington and Camberwell, our volunteers are regularly spending time hosting film nights, dinner parties, baking clubs, arts and crafts evenings and new technology workshops. In fact, in six months they've hosted 64 Social Clubs and spent a total of 622 hours with their older neighbours.

Our older neighbours tell us that they look forward to coming to the social clubs, to spending time with their younger neighbours and most of all, to having a laugh. And our volunteers tell us that coming to a social club is a great way to switch off from work and enjoy new company.

Meanwhile, some of our volunteers are spending time regularly with an older neighbour one to one through our Love Your Neighbour project. Beryl in Dulwich, Richard in Herne Hill, and Martha in Bermondsey are all enjoying getting out and about a bit more with the help and company of a younger neighbour. Volunteers are hearing new stories about the area they live in, its history and its people.

Thanks to each and every one of our 82 active volunteers who we've connected with 172 of their older neighbours across Southwark and Lambeth - we're so excited to continue growing our network with the help of our amazing volunteers!