A creative partnership
Joseph and Sarah's story
No two weeks are the same and Joseph always makes me laugh.
The pandemic has reduced the number of visits that the people we support are able to receive and so there has been an increased risk of them becoming lonely or isolated. To help with this, we set up a new volunteer befriending service. Every week, over a telephone call or Zoom meeting, volunteers provide a friendly listening ear and give people we support the opportunity to talk about things they like to do, about their day and anything that may be bothering them. Both the people we support and volunteers get to talk to someone new and build a positive friendship.
Sarah is one of our volunteers. She signed up to the befriending service after her working hours were reduced. “Due to the pandemic, I found myself with more free time. I was drawn to telephone befriending as it is a flexible way to support people,” she said.
After receiving training from our volunteering team, Sarah was matched with Joseph. Joseph wanted to find someone who could create illustrations to accompany some stories he had written about a penguin called Herbert and a seagull called Salty. Sarah is a graphic designer, so she seemed like the perfect fit. They both report that their creative partnership is going really well.
Joseph says: “I like working with Sarah very much because she shares my ideas about how to improve a sketch or text.”
Sarah says: “I am lucky to have the opportunity to support Joseph and to create illustrations for the wonderful stories he has written. I enjoy using the illustration development as a way to get to know Joseph and structure our calls. No two weeks are the same and Joseph always makes me laugh.”
Joseph and Sarah catch up weekly via Zoom for a friendly chat and to work on the illustrations.
Joseph says: “Each Zoom meeting is full of fresh ideas and motivation for updates on the stories so far. Truly there could be no one better than Sarah to provide the ideal illustrations to bring my beloved Herbert and Salty characters to life, and it’s also great to get to know her as a confidant and a friend.”