A tee-rific match

A tee-rific matc

Jimmy (94) was first introduced to the Hospice 18 years ago when his wife was being cared for as an inpatient. More recently he was referred to our Day Therapies service, then during lockdown he was identified as an individual who may benefit from our Compassionate Neighbours initiative. That’s when he was matched with Geoff, who has been volunteering with the Hospice for several years. The pair instantly hit it off…

"I was introduced to Geoff in February 2021 so we’ve been ‘together’ for almost 18 months now. I know from looking at me you’d never guess he’s 30 years younger but we actually have so much in common and really hit it off from the moment we met, a couple of jokers! I think we’ve been lucky as we can talk about everything; golf, our travels, all the places we’ve been, golf, the current political situation in the country, music and did I mention golf? As much as we have a laugh, it’s a wide range of topics and it’s quite stimulating conversation – a nice part of my week. I only really have two family members, a nephew in Australia and a niece in London, so the regular contact has been good because they are so far away. "Geoff brings me music to listen to and we watch lots of YouTube clips together too. I’m currently living four weeks at home and then I go for respite for two weeks but no matter where I am, Geoff pays me a visit. The thing I like most about his visits is he’s genuine, he’s real and that’s what I like, people that call tatties tatties or a spade a spade. He’s a great man, he’s a friend now." Geoff said: “Being a Compassionate Neighbour is definitely rewarding for me too. We were amongst the first batch of compassionate neighbours matched. At that time, because it was in the pandemic there was no in person visiting so we could only speak by phone or we had the occasional Facetime or WhatsApp call. I can still remember our first call because I didn’t know anything about Jimmy except that he was a

A tee-rific match...

golfer, so I had prepared a little prompt sheet with questions. Well, it was a complete waste of time because the minute I picked up the phone he was off and had no hesitation when it came to tearing apart my golf game, the prompt sheet went out the window! Luckily, it wasn’t like that for long and we we’re able to meet in person soon after, it’s probably been about a year now since we started to meet up face to face.

"Somebody once asked me, so how do you plan out your visits? They’re not planned, I just arrive and it flows. Without a doubt, we have great conversations and we actually talk about what Compassionate Neighbours means for both of us, we’ve had that conversation more than once. It's about relationships and relationships are always two-way so I’ve never seen it as being all about me, giving something to Jimmy. I look forward to coming here, I think just as much as Jimmy looks forward to my visit, so it’s great for both of us."

Join us!

To find out more about joining our team of Compassionate Neighbours visit: stcolumbashospice.org.uk/ become-a-compassionate-neighbour