At the start of 2024 we gave a small grant to SWAN Transport to help them with their Cuppa and Chat project. Here’s what they’ve told us about the project this year:
Thanks to the support of the Radstock and Westfield Small Fund, as well as other local funders, we have been able to continue to provide our ‘Cuppa & Chat’ group over the last year. This is now a very established group, with approximately 16 people attending each session – membership adjusts on a rolling basis, dependent on health and need.
Connections have been made and friendships have been formed which now exist outside of the group’s regular meeting times. But we are told that the group is still essential to maintaining these relationships, providing structure and distraction to their week, and improving their quality of life.
This group really is unique in the local area, for six key reasons:
1) Having got to know the attendees as passengers in the preceding months (before they are identified as being a potential beneficiary of the group) we have good knowledge of their needs, preferences and interests. This allows us to make plans and adjustments to ensure each attendee is safe, comfortable and supported appropriately. It also allows us to properly welcome new attendees and introduce them to others with some context and detail.
2) The door-to-door transport we provide from the attendees’ homes removes any anxiety or difficulty they may have about how they will be able to travel to the group.
3) The familiarity of the people the running the group brings a sense of ease – the attendees have already got to know them as volunteer drivers and office staff, making them feel more confident and comfortable.
4) The relaxed, friendly and inclusive atmosphere seems to allow attendees to be vulnerable and open up about their struggles – each individual is listened to patiently and given the time to talk as much as they need.
5) The size of the group means it is not too big that attendees get ‘lost’ in the crowd, and not too small that people can’t find someone with whom to share common interests. We have found that this size of group is an important contributing factor to how welcome and comfortable people feel.
6) If anyone is unable to attend a session (e.g. due to illness or a stay in hospital), we will actively stay in touch with them to support their wellbeing from afar. With their permission, our office team will call them regularly to
7) how they are, and make sure they still feel part of the group. We have seen how doing so maintains an important connection and makes them feel more comfortable to return to the group once they are feeling better.
It takes just one visit to the group to see how the impactful the group is: how warmth, smiles and laughter radiate and act as a ray of sunshine, genuinely brightening up the week of some of the most isolated members of our community.
It is absolutely vital the group continues, both for our existing members, and for those who will find themselves newly lonely and isolated over the year ahead.