Helping our neighbours—and gaining new confidence

Please note: this post is 168 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Jess Catone blogs about her experience of helping our local community with North London Cares.

Last Wednesday was my first time knocking on doors with North London Cares to distribute information about the services available to elderly and vulnerable people, particularly during the winter. I was a bit apprehensive at first but the team put me at ease, and after I had gotten the hang of what to say when someone answered their door I really started enjoying myself.

We got mostly warm receptions and people seemed to appreciate what we were doing. After just a couple hours of knocking on doors, we made contact with several people who needed extra support, and it was rewarding to be able to see the immediate impact of our efforts. It also made me realise that interacting with people in your neighbourhood is often just a matter of practice. If you don’t do it normally it can feel awkward or intrusive but if you push yourself to do it, then it gradually becomes more natural.

When I started the day I had it in mind that I would be trying to make older or isolated people feel like they were part of the community—and this did happen—but what took me by surprise was that by the end of the session I felt more integrated into that community myself. I’m looking forward to continuing working with them and I’m already urging my friends to get involved too.

Jess Catone, volunteer