On Tuesday 6th March, Lynn Whitehead was invited by Rotary to give a talk about Jigsaw which is a befriending service in the local area for older people with disabilities. The charity started twenty years ago as a telephone helpline, giving advice to people with disabilities on a range of subjects. The volunteers then started to visit people in their own homes with information and seeing how lonely and isolated some of the disabled people felt, a befriending service started. Lynn informed us that research suggests that feelings of loneliness and isolation can affect a person’s health and well being. This can be alleviated by contact with others, hence the creation of a befriending service in Bury.

When Jigsaw started in 1993 it was split into three groups, one for the old, the young and the sporty. Each generation has different problems and needs so the charity’s coordinators responded with different solutions, for instance for the older people it might be providing someone to chat to or to visit places of interest with, for the young disabled people activities such as rock climbing or dog sledging have been enjoyed and for the sporty, wheelchair basketball or rugby which have been very successful.

Lynn went on to say that people are often referred to Jigsaw by social services or friends or family. Individual people then phone up and volunteers go to their homes to assess what they want from the service. The charity then matches the individual up with a friend who would then visit them 1-2 hours per week. There is currently a waiting list of 12 members to be matched up with future volunteers who come from all walks of life. Volunteers have to attend a short interview to ascertain their reasons for volunteering and have to provide two references. It is made clear that they are not carers but would spend their time chatting, listening and sharing memories with the people that they are matched up with. Once introduced, members and volunteers make their own arrangements but are trained and monitored by the service. Although, Jigsaw receives a grant from the council they continue to use other methods to raise money for this very worthwhile service to the community.

If you require any more information about our guest speakers or about Rotary please ring James on 766 8000 or e-mail Donald on ‘donjoycooper@btinternet.com’.