In May, we had a lovely discussion with the regular attendees of our virtual events, to gather some feedback before continuing for another three months, over the summer. The feedback was heart-warming, to say the least, and were testament to the need for continued social connections most of us are feeling now, even as we are slowly leaving the pandemic behind.

Since the pandemic, we started hosting regular events in the virtual world, to replace our weekly social events called ‘Cup of Friendship’. Our Cup of Friendship events gathered a bit of following over the years, with referrers happily referring their clients knowing that they will return home each week with the memory of a good blather and a nice time. With a large number of amazing volunteers, it was easy to make sure that everyone was comfortable, had a bite to eat and someone to chat to. Volunteers, too, were telling us what a nice time they had on these events, and the happy smiles on pictures offered no contradiction.

The real-world events were since replaced by the ones in the virtual world. The number of meetings were increased to three per week to make up for the sudden loss in the number of social connections vulnerable groups were experiencing. The ladies who were participating in the feedback session in May were emphasising the importance of these events in counteracting loneliness and helping them with their confidence. “When I started coming to the group, I was at my lowest, and it really helped me improve my self-confidence” – said Emma, one of the attendees. “I am not around people and I feel quite isolated, I am only visiting hospitals and at home, so the group really helped me”.

Leslie agreed. She explained that although she lives with her daughter and her partner, they are away at work all day, which means that she is feeling quite isolated. “My physical health is quite bad and I have not been able to go out as much as I used to, and it really makes my day to join groups like this. I don’t feel as isolated since I started coming here.” –  she explains, while someone else on the call shouts “Exactly!” – “When I started up, I was feeling terrible, but since I started coming here it’s been great. It gives a structure to my week. We know each other now, which is lovely.”

Participants added other benefits of the virtual meetings, such as that they are helping with keeping their mind sharp. “When you’re living the way we are living just now, you can lose your social and communication skills. We are looking at four walls practically every day” – explained Jeanette. “Very, very, very, very hard. So this is quite good as well, being able to communicate with people, which keeps you thinking. And having opinions, it’s good to have opinions and learn things from other people.”

(Perhaps this was a shout-out to Catherine Mackie, a volunteer, who is a Politics student at Glasgow Caledonian University and have organised quite a few political discussions for the group members.)

Participants mentioned that being part of this group opened other doors for them too. Betty explained how she has been encouraged in the group to join other groups such as Craft Café. This is largely thanks to Lisa, The No.1 Befriending Agency’s Events Assistant, who has been inviting along facilitators from other groups, so that participants could be given a taste of what else was on offer. “People have busy schedules now, everyone else has at least another group on during the week, so their network has definitely expanded during the lockdown” – Lisa confirms.

Leslie even highlighted how being part of the group has kept her motivated to pay attention to her wellbeing. She has been encouraged to eat properly and to go out into her garden, and has done some gardening. Jeanette agreed and added that having these events helped her find new things to do. “All things I loved to do were outside, dancing, gardening, those types of things. I physically can’t do these things anymore, so I had to rethink”. She now enjoys learning about other cultures, virtual tours and crafts.

As for suggestions for future sessions, people were somewhat at loss, and proposed that we continue with offering a variety, where everyone can find something they enjoy. “If we could have a virtual tour of GalGael, I would quite like that” – suggested Emma, and Lisa is already on it.

Luckily, thanks to further funding, the group will continue running three times a week in August offering a variety of activities from bingo to crafts and virtual tours, thanks to the amazing staff members, volunteers, partner organisations and of course, the attendees.