Abi reached out for support from our Community Companions service when she was feeling isolated. We spoke to her about the support she received and the impact it had on her life.

Can you talk about what you were feeling at the time when you needed some support? What was happening for you?

I have struggled with my mental health for a number of years, and it’s something that I have to keep an eye on.

I have a little boy, he’s just turned eight, and he’s neurodiverse, and he is my whole world, but he has had a very challenging time due to his disabilities, and our lives had become quite isolated.

I just felt very drained and tired and kind of hopeless in a way.

Which service supported you?

I used the befriending service Community Companions. I had a phone call with them initially, to find out what it was that I wanted to get out of the service, and how I was feeling, why I was wanting to use the service.

They contacted me back quite soon afterwards to tell me that they’d matched me with a volunteer who could meet me for coffee once a week in the afternoons, which is what I had requested, and we just went out for coffee. We met up once a week, had a coffee and a chat, and I just got to be a person for that hour a week and talk to another adult about anything I wanted, and just relax and be me.

How did you feel after the support? What difference did it make to you?

It was incredible to be able to have that time. I don’t think I realised quite how much I needed it until I did it. I was Abi for an hour a week, as opposed to just being mum, and it enabled me to then be able to go out for coffee on my own again and contact friends that I’d had before to arrange for them to go out, which I couldn’t do prior to using the befriending service.