Link Age Southwark is a small and local charity working in the London Borough of Southwark to reduce loneliness and isolation amongst older people and people living with dementia.

We recruit, train and manage volunteers to deliver our services which are free to everyone aged over 60 and people with dementia and their carers who live in Southwark.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to make some important changes to our services to ensure the safety of the older people and volunteers we work with. Social distancing measures have had a huge impact on the services we can currently deliver, the roles played by our volunteers, and the way that we work day to day. Please find below a summary of our current service provision: 

Volunteer Befriending

A friendly chat over a cup of tea can make a huge difference to an older person feeling lonely. We match older people to volunteers and set up weekly visits at a time convenient for both parties in the older person's own home. Some of our befriending matches like to go for short walks together, to local coffee shops or play games together.

Unfortunately our face to face befriending visits are not possible at the moment and have all been moved to telephone support. Please see the befriending section of our website for further details. 

Exercise and Activity Groups

We run 25 exercise and activity groups across the borough. From gentle exercise to bridge, singing to dance, we have a group to suit everyone's interests. Our groups are a great opportunity to meet new people and all are supported by friendly volunteers.

Currently, all of our face-to-face groups and activities are suspended due to COVID-19. However, we have been able to move a number of our groups online including gentle exercise and seated dance. Please see the group activities section of our website for further details. 

Dementia Services

We are able to provide specialist support for people living with mild-moderate dementia. These services are organised by our Dementia Coordinator and are available to all Southwark residents, of any age, with a confirmed dementia diagnosis. We can provide a volunteer befriender and also run four specialist dementia groups.

All four of our specialist dementia groups are now being held online. For further details please see the group activities section of our website. 

DIY and Light Gardening

We offer a DIY and light gardening service to help older people maintain their homes. Our volunteers can help with small tasks such as mowing the lawn, changing a lightbulb or putting up a shelf. 

We are still able to provide our gardening service and DIY requests are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis.