Good Neighbours Case Study

Sherrill moved to the North East from Cambridge four years ago. She had worked in recruitment for many years, but decided it was time for a change, as she didn’t feel like she was really living life. So, one day she decided that there had to be more to life than working crazy hours, paying the mortgage and living for the weekend, so she put her flat up for sale, handed in her notice at work and moved up north to be closer to her best friend of 40 years!

Sherrill absolutely loves living up here, she said: “I’m surrounded by beautiful coastal scenery and fabulous, friendly people, plus I’ve discovered brown ale, stotties and the Lindisfarne festival, what more does a girl need?”

The Covid-19 pandemic put Sherrill’s plans to convert a van and travel round the world on hold. so instead she turned to volunteering.  Sherrill initially downloaded the NHS Responders app so she could start volunteering, but there were some teething problems and no one contacted her, then her neighbour told her about the Good Neighbours scheme, as he had been helping to deliver food parcels.

Sherrill started off helping with prescription deliveries and food shopping via Good Neighbours for people who were high risk and self isolating. She then progressed to becoming a volunteer driver for the Family Gateway and working in the Howdelicious cafe at the Howdon hub. She also helps out there in the kitchen Monday – Friday helping make up the free meals that are delivered to vulnerable families in the local area. Sherrill said the charity are doing amazing work and she finds it so rewarding personally to know she’s able to help people. “I still find it crazy to think we live in a world where people are struggling to get food!”

Sherrill was also one of the first volunteers to become a Garden Gate Buddy. She and her buddy met on a weekly basis from August to October, which worked really well. The lady she visited was very down to earth and independent, but had been stuck inside her flat for over a year due to very bad arthritis in her legs and feet. So, Sherrill would sit in the lady’s garden with her. Sherrill said Josie Robinson at VODA did a fabulous job matching them together as they had so many things in common and both loved a good chin wag.

Sherrill has really enjoyed being able to help people wherever she can. Just being able to listen and empathise with someone means so much to them and to her!

“I’m a huge believer in remembering that you never know what someone is really going through and a small act of kindness could make someone’s day and put a smile on their face!! The pandemic has affected everyone’s mental health and I’ve met so many lonely people, who literally just want to have a chat with another human being, in person, so I’ve been happy to oblige!

“On a personal note, I live alone, so I was also starting to feel very isolated and cut off from the world, unable to socialise, meet friends, go to my festivals (which I love!), so volunteering has truly helped me both mentally and physically. I really am grateful for it!

“If you have the time, I highly recommend volunteering! It’s such a lovely, rewarding feeling, knowing you’ve helped someone and more than likely made their day, week, maybe even month!”

Sherrill has been shopping for Sylvia for the last three months. One week, Sylvia saw adverts on TV advertising pink hair dye and was very keen to get the look herself. Sherrill got her a semi-permanent dye to begin with, but it only lasted a couple of washes so Sherrill went out again and bought her a permanent one. Sylvia now loves her pink/purple hair (see photo to left of Sylvia with her new hair colour).

Once Sherrill bought both of them a bunch of yellow roses as they were both feeling down.

“Volunteering for Sylvia has helped me. I regularly look forward to doing her shopping as she always puts a smile on my face. Sylvia is a ray of sunshine; she is easy to talk to, very funny, laid back and says what she thinks. Sylvia had not been out for the whole of lockdown but has managed to see a friend recently and found it really nice getting out. Sylvia is very open about feeling low sometimes, but by the end of the conversation we’re laughing.“

Andy is an ‘ex Southerner’ who has lived in the North East for more than 20 years. He has more than 30 plus years’ experience of working in HR, most recently at Teesside University and Gateshead Council.

Lockdown came and Andy wanted to do something to help and keep busy. He didn’t feel he knew his local area that well having worked in different localities so it was an opportunity to engage with where he lives.

Andy had always enjoyed meeting people as part of his job. Initially, Andy looked on North Tyneside Council’s website to try and help with employability given that he has a role as an Enterprise Adviser with the HR Professional Body (CIPD) supporting the Tees Valley Combined Authority. However, he didn’t hear back and when he chased them they suggested he consider Good Neighbour instead. Andy found it was easy to sign up and the process of getting an email/phone call outlining a job is very straightforward.

Andy started with the shopping scheme despite describing himself as “not a great shopper”. At the beginning of lockdown there was lots queuing involved and things you weren’t able to find, which drove him mad. There were also some local items that he couldn’t get or he hadn’t heard of before such as chicken butter pie. Andy found it interesting learning some of them and knowing where to go, and enjoyed having some regulars to shop for.

This led on to ‘buddying’. Andy was very reluctant with buddying to begin with; he has a hearing impairment and wearing face masks means he is unable to lip read plus he found the combination of face mask and ‘Geordie’ difficult for him to understand. However, because Andy meets both of his buddies outdoors and at a safe distance face masks have not been necessary.

Andy started the garden gate scheme in August when he went to visit Melanie, who was unable to walk far due to a health condition and preferred if someone would come to her home. After his first visit, Andy had no idea whether he was making a tangible difference. The key moment for him was getting feedback that it was working and he’s since learnt that just being there is helping.

Melanie and Andy have been lucky with the weather and have continued meeting in her garden despite it being autumn. There was one day when the weather was torrential and they both stood under cover in her garden. Andy has enjoyed going to see her and thinks, should the official visits come to an end, he’d be happy to exchange details and keep in touch.

Melanie commented: “The garden gate scheme is a wonderful service; I’m really enjoying it. I get dead excited about Andy coming. It’s spurred me on to do things and not sit here panicking; it’s given me purpose. Andy’s a lovely gentleman and we’ve met three times so far. I prefer the continuity of the same person visiting rather than speaking to a different person each time with telephone befriending. My garden gate buddy and I are like chalk and cheese, but that’s a good thing.”

In addition, Andy has been visiting Derek every other week since September. Derek had previously fallen and broken a bone hence being weary about going out. They started with a short 20 minute walk the first week, which increased in the length the next time they met. By week three, Andy and Derek were not paying attention where they were going and got hopelessly lost near the Rising Sun Country Park. Andy now knows to stick to routes where they know how to get back.

Andy found getting out and meeting new people has done him good. The experience has also made him reflect on life. He is very happy volunteering and this has led to him recently becoming a trustee for VODA.

 “You get a positive feeling that money can’t buy.”

Andy’s daughter is currently furloughed and he is trying to ‘twist her arm’ to give volunteering a go as he thinks she would enjoy it as well as helping her get out and giving her something to do. Andy had really enjoyed being a volunteer.

Kerry is one of our amazing Good Neighbours walking buddies, who has been working hard to help her fellow North Tynesiders during the pandemic. However, she did not start out as a volunteer, but instead she herself was on the receiving end of support from another of the Good Neighbours’ team. Her experiences of receiving this support inspired Kerry to sign up to help others once she was able to.

In 2017 Kerry caught the flu which developed into a chest infection. She went from having cold symptoms to seizing in a short space of time and ended up on life support for five days. Kerry now takes a daily steroid for her asthma.

Kerry had been volunteering for Beach Access North East, but had to stop during the pandemic. She anticipated how things would go with the spread of Covid-19 and starting shielding two weeks before the national lockdown. Kerry felt guilty about this as it meant her parents had to shield as well and she’d already suffered with poor mental health in the past.

Kerry and her parents wanted to eat as healthy as possible with quality ingredients. They started to panic when they tried signing up for a supermarket food slot and none were available, and there was no fresh food in the house. It meant so much to Kerry that a Good Neighbours volunteer, Kim, brought her shopping that week. It helped Kerry realise that society still cared about her and that she wasn’t a burden or worthless, but valued. She’d never been so excited to see a bag of shopping.

“A complete stranger risked her own safety and took time out of her day to help.”

Kerry’s family were able to access some supermarket slots after this point and began to receive a regular food parcel via Good Neighbours. Kerry found that was easier to ask a stranger for help as she knew a volunteer definitely meant it. Kerry thought the process of receiving a food parcel really straight forward.

Kerry came out of shielding in July after keeping an eye on the infection rates. She’d been out of the house once after 10 weeks, but found after weeks of shielding she was terrified of the world and everything in it. Kerry had previously worked in the care profession, which wouldn’t be possible again until a vaccine became available.

Kerry wanted to feel useful and raised some money for the Samaritans by climbing the St Mary’s lighthouse several times in one go. After that, she saw that VODA was looking for walking buddies and thought she’d be perfect as she’d gone through shielding herself and was low risk to others.

Kerry now has two walking buddies. Anne is not used to walking far and tends to use a wheelchair. She has poor eyesight and does not feel confident on her feet. They walk together to the end of the street and back, but are building it up each week. Anne needs to hold to Kerry’s arm, but they both wear facemasks and feel quite safe walking out in the open air.

Kerry also visits Trish once a week, who used to be an agony aunt and has some fantastic stories. Kerry appreciates all the wisdom that Trish shares and has grown extremely fond of her. Kerry sits in the garden by the backdoor and Trish sits inside at a distance, which again feels perfectly safe.

Trish is undergoing chemo and does not have long to live. She would like to capture her life experiences, but is getting very tired and asked Kerry if she knew of anyone who would do it. Kerry keenly volunteered and takes a voice recorder to their meetings in order to write up what Trish shares. She hopes to put together some bundles for Trish’s family as a result. Kerry experiences bad anxiety, but has found that Trish has rubbed off on her. Every opportunity Trish has been presented with she’s said yes, which has inspired Kerry and has had a real positive impact on her life.

Kerry’s highlight from volunteering has been meeting Trish.

“I’m so grateful that things in the universe have aligned that we’ve been brought together.”

Kerry would advise anyone to take a leaf out of Trish’s book and say ‘yes’.

“You will get far more out of it that you would ever realise.”