A Resident with sight loss at HC-One’s Woodside Court care home in Glenrothes has befriended a volunteer befriender from seescape, a charity that helps people with sight impairments to help them live as independently as possible in Fife.
Throughout the coronavirus, seescape have adapted their services so people living with sight loss, still receive support. Volunteer telephone befrienders contact seescape clients such as Woodside Court Resident Jemima Watters on a regular basis to have a conversation, get to know them and offer moral support.
seescape Volunteer Befriender, Keith Wallace and his befriendee, Resident Jemima have continued their contact throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Initially meeting in September 2019, at Woodside care home, they hit it off pretty well from the start.
When the coronavirus pandemic started, face to face meetings had to be suspended, so Keith and Jemima started sending emails to each other. Now they are enjoying weekly phone calls to keep in touch.
Woodside Court Resident Jemima Watters said: “I feel supported by Keith, he is a very nice person and I always look forward to hearing from him.”
“More people would benefit from people like Keith, charities are important and people should support them.”
The feeling is mutual for Keith, who enjoys Jemimas company and gains a great deal from conversing with her, “I get a great deal from befriending; my lady is a great believer in talking her mind. Politics, music, and local news, make up our topics of conversation,” said Keith.
Volunteer befrienders at seescape offer people with sight loss a lifeline, and this is even more important during the coronavirus pandemic. seescape’s aim is to enable people living with sight loss in Fife, to live an independent life, which couldn’t be done without the support of their volunteers.
Keith from seescape said: “The chance to give someone a listening ear can make all the difference to someone's day. It can only be a good thing.”
“The training is good and broadens the way you work and think. It only takes a small measure of your time to make a big difference”.
Keith and Jemima will continue to keep in touch throughout the coronavirus and will hopefully be able to meet up again soon for some much-anticipated face to face contact.