Telephone befriending

Not having someone to talk to regularly can be lonely and isolating, particularly if you’re used to sharing your home and time with others. A friendly chat on the phone can make all the difference.

Friendship Calls and Good Day Calls

Our 'Call in Time' service comprises 'Friendship Calls' and 'Good Day Calls':

• A Friendship Call is a weekly phone call (lasting normally around 20 minutes) from a trained and supported corporate volunteer.
• A Good Day Call is a short call several times a week, at a time that suits you best, for an initial period of 8 weeks. This can provide a little reassurance when people most need it - for example, if an older person has experienced a recent bereavement or just come out of hospital.

To date, our service has supported over 500 people in a variety of different situations. We have received lots of positive feedback from those who have used the service about the benefits it brings to them.

But don't just take our word for it, hear from people who have tried it themselves such as Barbara, who suffered the loss of her daughter and husband, she said:

'As time passes, I’m feeling much better, but I couldn’t have coped without the support I got from the Call in Time team.'

Read about Barbara’s experience of the Call in Time service.

How Call in Time works

Call in Time is primarily for people over the age of 60 who would benefit from the additional support a telephone friendship could provide.

These people could be:

• Living alone
• Living away from their family and friends
• Socially isolated or lonely
• Recently bereaved
• Caring for someone
• Isolated from their immediate community due to physical disability or health problems
• Recently out of hospital or experiencing a significant change to their daily living arrangements
• Assessed as benefiting from the service

Call in Time works with local partners to ensure people can receive the service or services most appropriate to their needs. All 'Call in Time' calls are free to recipients, and delivered Monday to Friday between 9.00am and 5.00pm.

Know someone who could benefit?

If you think you or someone you know could benefit from the Call in Time service, or if you wish to know more about how the service works, please call Age UK on 0844 225 0320, email callintime@ageuk.org.uk, or write (including your contact details, with no stamp needed) to:

Freepost RSHU-UCSC-TUEG
Age UK
A Call in Time 
Tavis House
1-6 Tavistock Square
LONDON
WC1H 9NA

If you are referring someone other than yourself to the service, please use our referral form. Make sure your have their permission to do so, please provide us with as much relevant information as possible (i.e. main reason for referral, telephone contact details, the person's preferred times for us to get in touch with them, etc.)

If the person lives in an area covered by a pre-existing local Age UK befriending service, the Call in Time team may, subject to agreement, transfer the referral.

Download Call in Time referral form