We can all feel a bit lonely at times, but when Covid came along and we went into one lock down after another, there was a big increase in loneliness. Suddenly we were confined to our homes and couldn’t do normal things like meet friends, family or even go to the shops.
At Yorkshire Housing we switched things up so we could carry on supporting our customers. We set up a befriending service for vulnerable customers (making 5,823 calls to see how we could help) , our colleagues went out and about delivering food parcels and picking up prescriptions, and we started running a few food banks … one was even in a colleague’s garage!
But some of our services had to stop completely and we were devastated when we had to close all 14 of our community spaces. These facilities are at the heart of our local communities, and we know they’re a lifeline for some of the people who use them.
So, when restrictions were lifted in January 2022, we were raring to go, and that was when our community independence officer Jennie met our customer Eric. He was living alone and as an 80-year old, had sadly seen most of his friends pass away over recent years, so was feeling isolated and lonely.
With some gentle encouragement, he started coming along to one of our community spaces in Malton, and he’s become one of our regulars. Every week he joins the sessions that are run by Yorkshire Housing and Carers Plus Yorkshire. including playing dominoes and bingo, and he recently came to our Valentine’s Day supper and our Pancake Day celebration.
He also signed up for our ‘Winter Warmers’ cookery course, a six-week project that was jointly funded by Yorkshire Housing’s community fund and Carers Plus Yorkshire. Participants were given cooking demonstrations, and provided with slow cookers and ingredients to take away so they could try the recipes at home themselves. Eric enjoyed it so much, he’s signed up for the second course which starts soon. In no time at all he’ll be giving Yorkshire’s very own top chef James Martin a run for his money!
Jennie said: “We love having Eric at our community space, because he tells us stories about what he got up to when he was a young man, and he regularly brings in cake, which is always popular! He’s made loads of new friends and it’s lovely to see how much more confident and happy he is these days.
“We know coming to one of our community spaces for the first time and meeting new people might seem like a big step, but we’d encourage anyone who fancies a bit of company to pop in and see us or get in touch to find out how we can help. And you don’t have to be a Yorkshire Housing customer to join in – everyone’s welcome.”
Find out more about our community spaces in Craven, Ryedale, Bradford and Wakefield, and what we’re doing to support local communities Community Independence | Yorkshire Housing