If you are looking for some help or support, either for yourself, or for someone you look after, there is a wide range of voluntary organisations in and around Edinburgh that provide just this type of service. Alternatively, becoming a volunteer yourself can bring great rewards, as well as providing a great way to meet new people.
Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council (EVOC) provides a constantly-updated register of voluntary organisations in your area, and you can use this to search for any type of service that may exist. Simply click here to access their search facility, and enter the type of service you are looking for, your post-code, and the distance within your post-code area that you would like to search.
The Silver Line is a free, confidential, helpline that’s available, throughout the UK, to all people over the age of 55. It’s open 7 days a week, 365 days a year and provides advice and friendship to older people who feel socially isolated. It can help callers link up with local groups and services, and can even set up regular telephone friends, either individually or as part of a small group of elderly people who share similar interests. Click here for more information, or call them on 0800 4 70 80 90
Phonelink Edinburgh is a free telephone service that can provide a morning and/or evening call to check on the wellbeing of elderly people who would like some support in the community. You have to be 65 or over to qualify and it can provide regular welfare checks to help the elderly feel less lonely and isolated in the home. It can also provide medication prompts to those who do not have other care or nursing staff entering the home regularly to do so. Further information can be found by clicking here.
Volunteer Edinburgh is an organisation based at 222 Leith Walk. Although they don't provide voluntary services themselves, if you would like to become a volunteer yourself, they can help you to find the perfect opportunity. You can check out their general website here.
If you want to help out as a volunteer during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, you can go straight to that part of the Volunteer Edinburgh website by clicking HERE.