Did you know loneliness is thought to be as bad for our health as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day? In June Helen Yewdall, pastoral assistant, gave us more information about an exciting opportunity to get involved in supporting members of our community most at risk of loneliness, often due to frailty and lack of social support. St Mungo’s has been successful in obtaining funding from the Tor Foundation here in Edinburgh to set up ‘Valley Friends’, a befriending scheme aimed at older people living in Balerno, Currie and Juniper Green. We will soon be seeking volunteers from St Mungo’s and other churches in the valley with a real heart to be alongside some of our most isolated community members. We will need volunteers to offer a regular time commitment to Valley Friends, but will work with the volunteer and their befriendee to decide what that might look like on an individual basis. We’re presently working on all the different practical aspects of the project including training and support for our volunteers, and will be offering a more detailed information session on the project after the summer. In the meantime, please be prayerfully considering if this might be something that you could do to demonstrate God’s love and care in our community.
Please contact Helen at helen.yewdall@stmungos.org if you would like to know more.
Ollie interviewed Helen as part of our 10:30 Balerno service last week. Here’s that interview in case you missed it!