Dedicated pair let go in befriending service cuts Volunteers feed families through crisis
A woman who has devoted the past six-and-a-half years to helping lonely older people has reflected on the job she loved after being made redundant by Age UK Maidstone.
Wendy Pfeiffer started working for the charity’s West Kent Befriending Service when it was set up in 2014, but was let go last month due to funding issues. The service’s other paid staff member, Diane Bromley, has also left after her two-year contract expired.
One other employee was made redundant from the branch, based in Mill Street.
Mrs Pfeiffer remembers how excited she was to start the job. The 60-year-old said: “It was a totally new service, it was an exciting opportunity to be part of something that really made a difference and I have always had an affinity with older people, so it ticked all the boxes.”
The West Kent Befriending Service supports older people who have little or no social contact. It matches them with volunteer befrienders for regular companionship.
As time went on, the programme kept on growing and by May 2018, there were more than 80 members, meaning the charity was able to employ a second part-time worker, Ms Bromley. It began running other schemes including regular coffee mornings, bus trips, and a pen pal service.
Mrs Pfeiffer said: “Both Diane and I were in a very enviable position as we loved our jobs. Befriending is not rocket science, it is just having the ability to empathise with people who are experiencing loneliness.”
She added: “We were both so sad to be leaving.”
Age UK stressed the befriending service would continue following a re-organisation. A spokesman said: “We would like to thank both Wendy and Diane for their support and time and wish them well for the future.”
As the world shut down, charities and church groups in Kent stepped up, working non-stop throughout the pandemic providing food for those in need. Volunteers from Making a Difference in Maidstone (MADM) and St Philip’s Community Larder in Tunbridge Wells saw the opportunity to feed families who may be struggling by distributing food packages.
Using surplus produce from supermarkets, both have been providing fresh, nutritious meals for families struggling as the demand for their foodbanks more than doubled.
This was something Christian charity MADM did on a regular basis from its shop on Church Street, but as the crisis hit, volunteers stepped up collections from Aldi on Well Road, Marks and Spencer on Week Street, and Morrisons on Sutton Road, and distributed the food across the community.