Re-Engage (Midlothian)

Charity registered in Scotland SC039377

Re-engage is a charity that is positive about older age and committed to fighting loneliness so that people can have social lives and friendship groups however old they are. We inspire and enable meaningful connections and shared experiences within communities across the UK for people over 75 facing loneliness and social isolation.

Our volunteers work together to create better communities and help to enrich the lives of our members by giving them something to look forward to.

Older people who may have felt very alone, now feel valued as individuals, continue to form friendships, and have groups that give support. We make sure that people know they are important well into old age.


Current opportunities

Impact volunteers help us to evaluate our work so that we can understand the impact of our services. This can involve interviewing older people or asking them to complete questionnaires. The role asks you to give around two hours each week (or eight to 10 hours per month). You will spend most of your time surveying older people on the phone and gathering their responses, and there may be interviewing opportunities for those volunteers who would like to do so. This is a flexible and remote voluntary role that can be carried out from home. You will need one reference and to complete an ID check for this role.

As a call companion, you will make regular telephone calls to an older person experiencing loneliness and isolation. These calls provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated. Over time, you and the older person you have been matched with will get to know each other well and together you will spend many hours full of fun, laughter and stories. Call companions call the older person they are matched with between two and four times per month, and each call lasts around 30 minutes. During your first call with the older person, you will decide together how often the calls will take place and at what time. This is a long-term voluntary role, so we are ideally looking for individuals who are able to commit to volunteering with us for at least 12 months.

Tea parties provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated. As a tea party group coordinator, you will ensure older guests know when and where the next tea party will be held and who will be collecting them each month. This is an administrative role that requires planning and scheduling, you must be comfortable organising monthly events with volunteer hosts, socialising, communicating with people and resolving issues that might arise. Sometimes, tea party group coordinators are also drivers or hosts for their group, but this is not a requirement of being a coordinator. You will need a PVG for this role.