Help End Isolation for Disabled People this Christmas

Event dates: Monday 6th December 2021 – Friday 31st December 2021

Loneliness and isolation are a risk to us all. Disabled people are more likely to experience exclusion from society and separation from family and friends. This causes huge declines in mental and physical wellbeing. At Christmas we are all urged to unite with loved ones and make the most of the season's good cheer, which makes it very difficult for those living alone and unable to get out.

Choice in Hackney's volunteer project provides Befrienders, Walking Buddies, Shopping Helpers and even Gardeners to disabled people to help them connect with people, get out of their homes, and make the most of the spaces and places they live in. Our volunteers form long-term relationships with the people they support. They give whatever time they can give to bring the people they support out of the dark.

Our befrienders visit or call disabled people to check in, chat and get disabled people involved in activities that help them thrive. Our Walking Buddies support our vulnerable clients to get out of the house and take walks in their community, providing support, reassurance and protection. Our Shopping Helpers were essential during lockdown and continue to offer important help for our most at risk clients by picking up shopping and prescriptions and delivering them to their doors. Our Gardeners work year round to transform the green spaces of people desperately in need of a private place to take air, walk and gather with friends and family.

We also organise and deliver active lifestyle sessions and social groups that inspire our clients to think differently about their abilities. If a wheelchair user only thinks sport is what they see on TV they might not realise that they can get involved as well! We provide Boccia sessions, seated dance and accessible gym sessions to our disabled clients, and we support them to attend. We provided services all through lockdown, taking our volunteering online to ensure that our clients weren't left on their own, trapped in their houses during the scariest of times.

But we need to do more and we need your help. We need time to recruit, train and encourage our volunteers in their relationship. To nurture a meaningful relationship takes time that is becoming increasingly difficult to afford. We cover all expenses for our volunteers so they can keep doing the good work they do regardless of their circumstances. Your donation will help us find these brilliant volunteers and support them to do the extraordinary work they do every day for disabled people living all around us, but all too often hidden from view.