Skip to main content
  • About Us
    back
    • Overview
    • Our People
      back
      • Obituaries
    • Our impact
    • Our history
      back
      • The Cause
    • Join the Team
      back
      • Work with us
      • Volunteer with us
      • Become a member
    • News
    • Publications
    • Governance
  • Our Work
  • Get Involved
  • Request Help
    back
    • What to expect and FAQs
    • Testimonials
    • Safeguarding
  • Donate
  • Social Justice
  • Overseas aid
  • Shop
  • Contact us
  • Search
Home

Donate
  • Social Justice
  • Overseas aid
  • Shop
  • Contact us
  • Search
  • Members and Staff
  • About Us
  • Our Work
  • Get Involved
  • Request Help
  • Donate

Meet Pamela, a Beneficiary

  1. Home
  2. Pamela

“We talk regularly on the phone, and she proudly talks about how she managed several restaurants in the town. She loves cake so really appreciates it when we deliver a homemade piece of cake."

 

Dementia can be frightening. Losing your ability to remember the things you have known all your life, not being able to reason and think clearly. Add to that the isolation of lockdown and the effects for someone suffering with dementia can be devastating. The SVP works with individuals with dementia, but also with their carers, who are often under immense stress.

Pamela is one of the lovely ladies regularly visited by the volunteers of the Dementia Befriending Programme run by St Vincent’s Southend-on-Sea. She hasn’t been out of her house since her husband died last year and is now frightened to go out.

“We talk regularly on the phone, and she proudly talks about her life and how she managed several restaurants in the town. She loves cake, but she isn’t able to cook now, so she really appreciates it when we deliver a homemade piece of cake,” says one of the dedicated team of Dementia Befriending Programme volunteers.

For people like Pamela, loss of human interaction is one of the most serious problems facing older people in lockdown. As a grassroots organisation, the SVP has always seen befriending as one of the most important things we, as Vincentians, can do for someone who needs our help. It demonstrates unity, kindness and compassion.

Simple acts of kindness such as a chat over the phone, delivering a puzzle book, a jigsaw, some craft materials, or, like Pamela, a piece of cake, make a huge difference to their lives. We should nurture and appreciate our older generation for their knowledge and wisdom.

SVP President Helen O’Shea says: “Tackling loneliness requires bravery and community; bravery on the part of those who most acutely feel the solitude of loneliness, and community, because we cannot fight this alone. SVP members and volunteers reach out to the lonely, befriend them, talk, understand, and all without judgement. We provide opportunities for conversation either by phone, email or by letter. As a community, we should all strive to be ‘good neighbours’.”

If you would like to support our work befriending an older people in local communities, please donate to our Covid-19 Recovery Programme.

Help people like Pamela
Close X

Continuing Support for Ukraine.

There are different ways to help.


Find out more  
 

svp-banner-

Need to get in touch?

Speak to someone at our national office to see how we can help.

Contact us now

SVP England & Wales National Office

St Vincent de Paul Society

Romero House

55 Westminster Bridge Road

London

SE1 7JB

Click here for contact numbers

          

Contact us

Safeguarding

Community projects

Overseas Aid

Search

Members and Staff

Media Enquiries

What we do

Get involved

Request help

Donate

 

Copyright St Vincent de Paul Society 2022 | Registered charity number 1053992
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookie policy
  • Complaints policy
  • Safeguarding
  • Charity Website Design by IE Digital