Social tea party group & telephone befriending service for older people

Re-engage run services to tackle isolation and loneliness for people aged 75 and older people who are lonely, isolated or in need of companionship. All  activities are free and include:

Social tea party groups

Re-engage tea parties are a chance for a change of scenery and regular afternoons of conversation and laughter with friends of all ages.
You will even be taken there and home again so don’t need to worry about organising travel.

At Re-engage, they work within your local community to set up regular social gatherings for small groups of people and most of them are just like you - over 75, on their own, and hoping to find new ways to get out and about in a way that suits them at this time of life.

How does it work?

Small groups of people get together for social events within their community. The same group meets each month so guests and volunteers find themselves making long term friendships. Everyone looks forward to seeing each other and catching up.

Groups usually meet on Sunday afternoons because they  know this can be a lonely time of the week if you live alone. They have volunteers who host most of the events in their houses, providing a warm, welcoming environment. They sometimes meet in other venues, too, like community halls, hotels, museums and even the odd fire station!

Telephone befriending through call companions

Re-engage call companion volunteers make regular telephone calls to older people providing a lifeline of friendship. The regular chat and companionship offers a vital link with the outside world.

Re-engage have been running social gatherings for older people for 50 years. Now, they're also offering call companions who can brighten your day with a friendly phone call.

Call companions love a good chat and they’re great listeners too. They’ll enjoy getting to know you and telling you a bit about their lives. Soon you’ll be sharing gardening tips, favourite books or just chatting about the day to day.

Whatever you talk about, their phone calls will give you a real boost. Because if there’s one thing they’ve learnt from the people they’ve helped over the years, it’s that a good chat really does mean the world.

How it works

1. When you sign up, we’ll ask you a bit about yourself. We’ll then do our best to pair     you with a call companion we think you’ll get on with, so the conversation flows and the friendship blossoms.
2. You can choose when to receive the phone calls and whether you’d like a call every week or every other week.
3. You can receive the phone calls for as long as you want and you never need to pay a penny.