Albert and me

Please note: this post is 112 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

I first decided to look for volunteering opportunities when I was working behind a bar, which meant I often had spare time during the day. I had often considered working with older people but never got around to looking into it properly. A friend told me about North London Cares’ work, and after a simple induction process I was introduced to Albert through the Love Your Neighbour programme, which introduces younger volunteers to their older neighbours for one-to-one company and friendship.

Albert and I hit it off straight away. As his Hidden Heroes film (above) shows, he's very charming and friendly but he'd become quite isolated since losing his wife some years before. It was through spending time with Albert that I was introduced to North London Cares’ Islington social clubs, and I was able to see first-hand how much of an impact they had on Albert, and how much he looked forward to them.

His mobility got worse as time went on, but even as it started taking longer and longer for us to get to the clubs Albert remained determined that we should shuffle down there together. He managed to maintain an impressive amount of independence, only letting me help with his food shopping once a week and offer an arm to lean on as we walked.

Albert has since moved to Essex to live with family, but I’m always invited down there to visit him, and I feel lucky to have been introduced to such a charming man who I would never have crossed paths with otherwise. The experience pressed on me the importance of engaging with the community you live in, and how a friendship across the generations can benefit all sides.

Through my volunteering I got to know the North London Cares team very well and came to work for them for a month in October of last year. In June I joined the team again, this time as the new, full-time Volunteer and Outreach Officer. My role now is to help as many people as possible to get all the same benefits from NLC’s work that Albert and I have!