Contact aims to alleviate the loneliness and sense of isolation often felt by older and housebound people in Cambridge by offering them the company of a student from Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin Universities for about one hour every week during term time. Contact also organises two parties each year (for which it provides the transport, venue and food), a Christmas lunch and a summer tea party, so that members can get together and enjoy a sociable activity outside their own four walls.
Why the community needs usContact's student visitors do a fantastic job. Their visits alleviate the loneliness and boredom that many elderly and housebound people experience. The Christmas and summer parties are much anticipated events and it's clear that they are hugely enjoyed by everyone who attends them. Contact is also a very special organisation because it builds connections between town and gown and between younger and older generations.
Our impact on the communityThe users of our visiting service are people whose mobility and other health problems confine them to the space inside their own four walls. It is immensely uplifting and life-affirming for them to have a visitor who comes to see them because they want to chat and spend time with them. The benefit is not all one way - the volunteers themselves emphasise how much they welcome the chance to move outside the 'Cambridge Bubble' and find out more about the people in the city they study in.
Students at Cambridge or Anglia Ruskin Universities who would like to visit older and housebound people in Cambridge for one hour per week in their own homes, to provide companionship and a link to the outside world. No special skills, experience or qualifications required, just a general warmth, friendliness and sympathy for those who aren't able to get out and about easily.
