We want to increase our support to both volunteer digital befrienders and older people. The closure of our drop in service because of covid has reduced our capacity to support all those on the digital periphery, with many now experiencing a loss of face to face interaction, having to rely on friends, family, or neighbours to carry out access to socially essential services. Consequently, volunteer mentor support has been strained because of the requirement for additional resources to help with the increased demand. Pre-covid our drop in sessions served several functions none more essential than a shared, physical space to make friends and, of course, increase basic digital skills. The restrictions to our drop-in sessions are likely to continue for some time because the majority of those we serve have an underlying health condition. this set of restrictions has demanded a diversification in how we deliver our services, which we see being addressed by incorporating online user-friendly solutions to make engagement inclusive and, secondly, to provide additional hours for remote sessional training of volunteer digital befrienders while encouraging beneficiaries to become involved as a volunteer and share their learning with others. This will include support for their personal development such as self-esteem, confidence, motivation, self-help and the use of online accessibility tools, which many are freely available online.
Attracting donors is challenging given the current climate.