As soon as you’ve completed your checks and training, we normally send a letter within a week telling you the name of the older person you’ll be calling, when they’re available to receive their calls and the telephone number to call them on.

When Re-engage first created call companions, we put clear boundaries into place so that everyone knows what to expect when they make or receive their regular calls. This ensures that we can all be confident about the safety and security of the thousands of people involved in the service – both older people and volunteers.

Before any older person joins a Re-engage service, they must have an introductory call with someone in the Re-engage team. During the introductory call we explain that all Re-engage services are friendship services and that volunteers aren’t able to provide any advice.

If the older you’re calling asks for advice, you should remind them about the introductory call.

If the older person keeps forgetting or finds It difficult to accept that you can’t provide advice, please contact the Re-engage team at knowledge@reengage.org.uk.

Yes. All call companion calls are made through a telephone platform, when an older person join call companions, we send them a letter with the number that they’ll receive their calls from, so they can add it to their call blocker.

No. You’ll make your call companion calls through a telephone platform. When you dial the number, you’ll be automatically connected to the older person. The older person will see the telephone platform’s phone number, not yours.

From time to time an older person may miss their pre-arranged call. In most cases, there’s a simple explanation for this, from forgetting all about it to being distracted by an unexpected appointment or visitor. However, we understand it can be a worry when they don't pick up the phone as arranged.

This is what you should do

Call companions should make three calls five minutes apart:

1. In the first call, leave a message informing the older person that you’ve called and that you’ll call back in five minutes (if you’re able to leave a message).
2. In the second call, leave a message informing the older person that you’ve called and that you’ll call back in five minutes (if you’re able to leave a message).
3. In the third call, leave a message asking the older person to call Re-engage on 0800 716543 and contact the Re-engage team by emailing knowledge@reengage.org.uk to let them know what has happened.

Although we appreciate the sentiment, unfortunately, there are several reasons why Re-engage can’t share older people’s address with volunteers.

When we ask older people for their personal details, we must be honest about the reasons why we’re asking, and what we’re going to do with them. To be able to share an older person’s address we’d first need to ask the older person for their permission. Not all call companions have the time or the money to send cards, letters, or gifts to the older person they call, so many older people who’d give their permission to receive something, might not receive anything at all. This may leave some older people feeling disappointed or rejected.

Re-engage is an inclusive charity which offers a variety of volunteering opportunities. Our volunteering roles attract a wide range of people from all types of backgrounds. Many call companions volunteer with us because they can do so for very little, or no cost. If we add sending cards, letters, and gifts to the call companion role, we risk excluding people from volunteering, which means that we’d be able to offer fewer call companion calls to older people.

Re-engage has a small staff team who must balance the needs of thousands of volunteers and older people. Although it would be wonderful to be able to offer a bespoke service where we could pass letters, cards and gifts between volunteers and older people, unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to do this without pulling our team away from their focus of reducing loneliness for as many older people as possible.

When we look for a call companion for an older person, we check to make sure that they live at least 60 miles away from each other. We do this for safeguarding reasons. Call companions is a free telephone befriending service and those who sign up to it do so knowing that they’ll be receiving or making regular friendship calls. Over time it’s normal for friendships to develop, and when this happens it can become difficult to say no. By ensuring that volunteers and older people are at least 60 miles away from each other, we can prevent older people and volunteers from asking for, and offering more, from each other than they agreed to when they joined the service.

No. There’s no need to keep notes on your call companion calls, but we’d love to hear from volunteers who have stories and quotes to share.

Some of them will be used (anonymously) to help with promoting the service to more older people and volunteers. You can send them to comms@reengage.org.uk.

You might find it helpful to take a look at the volunteer handbook and a quick guide to becoming a successful call companion for any hints and tips that may help. If the older person is still not engaging in the calls, please contact the Re-engage team at knowledge@reengage.org.uk.

Please contact the Re-engage team at knowledge@reengage.org.uk.

To make your call companion calls dial 0300 373 0960 and you’ll be connected to the older person you’ve been matched with.

If you’re a call companion to more than one older person when you dial 0300 373 0960, you’ll hear a message that says, “To call [name] press 1. To call [name] press 2”. Once you’ve pressed the number on your telephone keypad you’ll be connected to that older person.

If an older person misses their call or tries to ring the phone number back, they’ll hear a message that says “You were called today by your call companion. If you missed the call, you don’t need to do anything they’ll call you back soon.”

If an emergency happens during your call companion call press *** on your telephone keypad.

You’ll hear a message that says “You’ve requested the emergency contact details for your call companion. Are you sure you wish to hear these details? Press 1 for yes and 2 for no.”

If you press 1, you’ll hear a recorded message with your older person’s contact details which you must then pass to the emergency services by calling 999.

Re-engage will be notified immediately if you press *** and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible within working hours.

Unfortunately, not. Our telephone platform can only connect you to the older person you’re calling, through the telephone numbers you've provided. If you try to make your call companion call from a different phone number your call won’t connect. You can update your phone number by filling in a change of details form or by emailing the team at knowledge@reengage.org.uk.

Calls to our telephone platform cost the same as a call to a local landline. If you’ve a bundle of minutes with your phone provider, the call will come out of those minutes. If you don’t have a bundle, you’ll be charged the standard rate as set by your telephone network provider.

Yes, but if you’re making your call companion call outside of the UK the cost of the call may be different depending upon the rate set by your telephone network provider.