Growing up, I was always close to my grandparents on both sides of my family. I was even lucky enough to have my great nan in my life until her early 90s.

With my ever-growing love for them, I even ended up living with one set. They became more than just my grandparents; they were the four people I was closest to.

This is where it all began. 

In April 2020 I was furloughed from a large travel company, one month after starting a new role. Like everyone, I thought having more free time was brilliant. However, I also knew I needed to feel like I had a purpose; something to keep me going.

In June, I wrote out a list of all my interests; what I love doing and what I could carry on after furlough, whenever that was going to be. I wasn’t really looking for a volunteering role at the time, but when I saw a Re-engage social media post, I thought I’d have a nose.

The more I read about how the charity helps older people, the more I knew this was for me. Everything I love about life was right there, on their website.

I found there were two routes I could go down:

Call companion – Offering to be a listening ear over the phone to the over-75s

Call companion coordinator – Looking after a group of call companions and their matches.

I started off as a call companion, not knowing where it would take me. I told myself that all I had to do was chat to another person once a fortnight. How hard could it be?  

I soon found myself out of my comfort zone, speaking to an older person who was three times my age. How would we ever find something in common?  As a 25-year-old, I’m not always very confident. I need to ‘learn’ new tasks, soaking up new information like a sponge. But this wasn’t something I could learn.

I was 30 minutes into my first call and all I could think about were the awkward silences or what I should say next. The next day I had a call from my coordinator who told me that Ethel, my older lady, had really enjoyed the call and had nothing but positive feedback.

Nearly a year on and I still speak to Ethel regularly. Our relationship has blossomed into a friendship. Believe it or not, Ethel now knows about the highs and lows of my life, which sounds crazy, I know.

I didn’t stop there. I’m now a call companion coordinator too, looking after two call companion teams. That’s 14 volunteers, not to mention their matches, and some have two!

Now back in my full-time job, I couldn’t imagine being without my volunteering now. It’s so rewarding. Being a call companion doesn’t just help me get through the weeks, it helps others too.