KCOM helps gets Hull talking with Age UK

KCOM volunteers took to the streets of Hull today armed with a cuppa and a good natter to help fight loneliness.

The KCOM team were part of Age UK Hull’s Chatty Bus initiative which aimed to tackle social isolation by setting up stall outside an East Yorkshire double decker bus in Queen Victoria Square and inviting anyone and everyone for a friendly chat.

Louise Babych, KCOM’s community engagement manager, said: “It’s a great privilege to be involved in the Chatty Bus initiative and our volunteers have really enjoyed talking to people today.

“At KCOM we’re all about connecting people and anything we can do to help prevent loneliness and social exclusion is a fantastic way to put this into action.”

Jane Ingram, Befriender Co-ordinator for Age UK Hull, said she was delighted to welcome KCOM to the event.

She said: “It’s fantastic to have KCOM here helping for the day. The need for our services has gone through the roof – especially since the pandemic – and more and more, especially older, people are suffering from loneliness.”

Jane added that as well as talking to people on the day, the Chatty Bus was also looking to recruit more volunteer befrienders who could act as a lifeline for socially excluded older people. The charity is especially keen to recruit more befrienders in the HU9 postcode area.

She said: “We urgently need more volunteer befrienders who can visit older people over the age of 50. Our befrienders can literally change people’s lives. Having a visit or even just a phone call from a befriender to look forward to can help lift anxiety, depression and loneliness and is often the highlight of someone’s day. In fact it can make such a difference that people who are visited by befrienders often go on to become a befriender themselves.”

For more information about East Yorkshire and Chatty Bus, or to find resources which can help those who suffer from loneliness and social isolation, visit eastyorkshirebuses.co.uk or follow its social channels: @EYBuses.

To find out more about becoming a volunteer befriender for Age UK Hull, visit Ageuk.org.uk/hull or call 01482 324644.