Special day tackles social isolation among older people

Comfort Call, which is based in Hebburn, hosted the special event for its service users at Perth Green Community Centre in a bid to help tackle social isolation for those they care for.

Around 60 people attended the get-together which featured singers and afternoon tea.

The event, funded by the company, also brought together two of their service users who had not seen each other for 20-years.

Regional Manager Bernadette Wyllie said: “The event was absolutely amazing. With us delivering domiciliary care, we just wanted to do something for our service users.

“There have been a lot of day centres closed, so we wanted to do something nice for them and to give them the opportunity to get together.

“We had two friends who had not seen each other for 20 years meeting for the first time, and one lady who had not been out of the house at all this year.

“The lady had come along with her daughter-in-law, and when there was a break in a song, she just burst into singing. Her family couldn’t believe it, and everyone was joining in and clapping.

“The staff at Perth Green were really amazing and very welcoming. It was just lovely, to be able to do something for those we provide care for.”

Staff from Comfort Call were on hand to help the residents from across South Tyneside make the most of their afternoon.

Bernadette added: “There was such a nice mix of people from across South Tyneside. We got Del’s Travel who helped with transporting the residents and they were fantastic.

“It was a great atmosphere and the staff also got a lot out of it too.

“We will be looking at putting other events on due to it being such a great success.”

At the end of the event each person was handed a goodie bag and a cupcake, which featured the Comfort Call logo, and baked by one of the staff.

Deputy Manager of the South Tyneside branch Courtnie Clark said: It was just perfect. It was the first one we have held as a company and everything went really well.

“As a company we just wanted to create something to bring our service users together who would normally not get out.

“Because, it was such a success, we are looking at making it an annual event.”