East London Cares connects older neighbours (65+) and younger volunteers (18+) in our rapidly changing boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets to reduce isolation, loneliness and social divides. To do this, our Social Clubs provide 15 free, group activities for neighbours to enjoy every month. For those less able to leave their home, our Love Your Neighbour programme offers one-to-one friendships, matching a volunteer with an older neighbour for weekly at-home visits. And these activities are underpinned by our proactive Outreach programme, which reaches those most at risk of isolation. On the 13th of March 2020, we suspended our face-to-face programmes due to the Covid-19 outbreak. However, knowing that our community would need us more than ever, we worked quickly to adapt our programmes to offer connection, friendship and support at a distance. This includes running Virtual Social Clubs on Zoom, offering tech support to help older neighbours access these clubs, setting up phone friendships and much more.
