Socialising > Companionship /befriending

Companionship can be important to the emotional well-being of isolated elderly people who have little or no contact with family or friends and little opportunity to socialise. There are organisations that provide a befriending service, and this is usually through volunteers. Such befriending services for older people offer regular home visits or outings by someone who will be a companion and offer friendship. Companionship can also be gained through attendance at clubs or day centres, where there will be others in a similar situation.

Click a location to view all companionship /befriending services in that region.

Socialising > Companionship /befriending services in England

Bedfordshire (38)
Bedford (33) Luton (34) Mid Bedfordshire (33) South Bedfordshire (35)

Berkshire (45)
Bracknell Forest (30) Reading (33) Slough (33) West Berkshire (32) Windsor and Maidenhead (33) Wokingham (32)

Buckinghamshire (53)
Aylesbury Vale (39) Chiltern (40) Milton Keynes (42) South Bucks (43) Wycombe (38)

Cambridgeshire (40)
Cambridge (34) East Cambridgeshire (33) Fenland (34) Huntingdonshire (35) Peterborough (34) South Cambridgeshire (36)

Channel Islands (29)
Guernsey (29) Jersey (28)

Cheshire (49)
Chester (39) Congleton (40) Crewe and Nantwich (40) Ellesmere Port and Neston (35) Halton (31) Macclesfield (44) Vale Royal (39) Warrington (33)

Cornwall (31)
Caradon (30) Carrick (30) Isles of Scilly (31) Kerrier (30) North Cornwall (30) Penwith (30) Restormel (30)

Cumbria (36)
Allerdale (30) Barrow-in-Furness (29) Carlisle (31) Copeland (29) Eden (31) South Lakeland (32)

Derbyshire (44)
Amber Valley (33) Bolsover (33) Chesterfield (34) Derby (33) Derbyshire Dales (39) Erewash (32) High Peak (37) North East Derbyshire (33) South Derbyshire (33)

Devon (46)
East Devon (36) Exeter (38) Mid Devon (35) North Devon (35) Plymouth (32) South Hams (32) Teignbridge (33) Torbay (35) Torridge (33) West Devon (33)

Dorset (63)
Bournemouth (47) Christchurch (38) East Dorset (41) North Dorset (35) Poole (44) Purbeck (35) West Dorset (39) Weymouth & Portland (33)

Durham (43)
Chester-le-Street (36) Darlington (36) Derwentside (35) Durham (35) Easington (36) Hartlepool (40) Sedgefield (36) Stockton-on-Tees (40) Teesdale (35) Wear Valley (35)

East Riding of Yorkshire (34)
East Riding of Yorkshire (31) Kingston upon Hull (34)

East Sussex (47)
Brighton & Hove (38) Eastbourne (37) Hastings (35) Lewes (36) Rother (37) Wealden (37)

Essex (49)
Basildon (36) Braintree (38) Brentwood (34) Castle point (35) Chelmsford (36) Colchester (38) Epping Forest (36) Harlow (33) Maldon (36) Rochford (34) Southend-on-Sea (37) Tendring (33) Thurrock (34) Uttlesford (36)

Gloucestershire (63)
Cheltenham (40) Cotswold (48) Forest of Dean (41) Gloucester (41) South Gloucestershire (40) Stroud (45) Tewkesbury (39)

Greater London (169)
Barking & Dagenham (41) Barnet (46) Bexley (50) Brent (46) Bromley (42) Camden (39) City of London (35) Croydon (40) Ealing (42) Enfield (43) Greenwich (37) Hackney (40) Hammersmith & Fulham (41) Haringey (40) Harrow (48) Havering (36) Hillingdon (48) Hounslow (42) Islington (39) Kensington and Chelsea (40) Kingston upon Thames (42) Lambeth (40) Lewisham (41) Merton (38) Newham (44) Redbridge (40) Richmond upon Thames (43) Southwark (42) Sutton (40) Tower Hamlets (44) Waltham Forest (45) Wandsworth (43) Westminster (36)

Greater Manchester (71)
Bolton (40) Bury (38) Manchester (37) Oldham (38) Rochdale (39) Salford (33) Stockport (37) Tameside (37) Trafford (33) Wigan (34)

Hampshire (58)
Basingstoke and Deane (31) East Hampshire (34) Eastleigh (30) Fareham (31) Gosport (31) Hart (30) Havant (31) New Forest (36) Portsmouth (31) Rushmoor (33) Southampton (32) Test Valley (30) Winchester (30)

Herefordshire (37)
Herefordshire (37)

Hertfordshire (44)
Broxbourne (38) Dacorum (38) East Hertfordshire (38) Hertsmere (39) North Hertfordshire (35) St Albans (38) Stevenage (34) Three Rivers (38) Watford (38) Welwyn Hatfield (37)

Isle of Man (27)
Isle of Man (27)

Isle of Wight (29)
Isle of Wight (29)

Kent (66)
Ashford (34) Canterbury (37) Dartford (37) Dover (34) Gravesham (37) Maidstone (37) Medway (33) Sevenoaks (36) Shepway (34) Swale (35) Thanet (35) Tonbridge & Malling (36) Tunbridge Wells (38)

Lancashire (47)
Blackburn with Darwen (35) Blackpool (32) Burnley (30) Chorley (34) Fylde (32) Hyndburn (32) Lancaster (29) Pendle (30) Preston (35) Ribble Valley (32) Rossendale (32) South Ribble (34) West Lancashire (30) Wyre (31)

Leicestershire (44)
Blaby (37) Charnwood (40) Harborough (39) Hinckley & Bosworth (37) Leicester (39) Melton (36) North West Leicestershire (37) Oadby & Wigston (37) Rutland (35)

Lincolnshire (36)
Boston (28) East Lindsey (30) Lincoln (31) North East Lincolnshire (28) North Kesteven (29) North Lincolnshire (27) South Holland (32) South Kesteven (32) West Lindsey (30)

Merseyside (45)
Knowsley (34) Liverpool (34) Sefton (38) St Helens (35) Wirral (34)

Norfolk (33)
Breckland (31) Broadland (30) Great Yarmouth (30) Kings Lynn and West Norfolk (30) North Norfolk (31) Norwich (31) South Norfolk (31)

North Yorkshire (41)
Craven (31) Hambleton (28) Harrogate (30) Middlesbrough (33) Redcar & Cleveland (32) Richmondshire (28) Ryedale (29) Scarborough (29) Selby (28) York (30)

Northamptonshire (36)
Corby (32) Daventry (35) East Northamptonshire (32) Kettering (33) Northampton (32) South Northamptonshire (33) Wellingborough (34)

Northumberland (31)
Alnwick (31) Berwick-upon-Tweed (31) Blyth Valley (30) Castle Morpeth (30) Tynedale (31) Wansbeck (30)

Nottinghamshire (46)
Ashfield (36) Bassetlaw (38) Broxtowe (41) Gedling (38) Mansfield (36) Newark and Sherwood (37) Nottingham (37) Rushcliffe (37)

Oxfordshire (36)
Cherwell (32) Oxford (30) South Oxfordshire (31) Vale of White Horse (32) West Oxfordshire (31)

Shropshire (59)
Bridgnorth (38) North Shropshire (44) Oswestry (38) Shrewsbury and Atcham (34) South Shropshire (40) Telford & Wrekin (36)

Somerset (53)
Bath & North East Somerset (36) Bristol (38) Mendip (33) North Somerset (35) Sedgemoor (32) South Somerset (32) Taunton Deane (31) West Somerset (31)

South Yorkshire (46)
Barnsley (35) Doncaster (31) Rotherham (32) Sheffield (39)

Staffordshire (53)
Cannock Chase (34) East Staffordshire (36) Lichfield (35) Newcastle-under-Lyme (37) South Staffordshire (38) Stafford (38) Staffordshire Moorlands (38) Stoke-on-Trent (35) Tamworth (31)

Suffolk (31)
Babergh (30) Forest Heath (29) Ipswich (30) Mid Suffolk (29) St Edmundsbury (30) Suffolk Coastal (29) Waveney (29)

Surrey (62)
Elmbridge (42) Epsom and Ewell (40) Guildford (41) Mole Valley (43) Reigate & Banstead (49) Runnymede (40) Spelthorne (41) Surrey Heath (38) Tandridge (43) Waverley (37) Woking (41)

Tyne and Wear (47)
Gateshead (32) Newcastle upon Tyne (29) North Tyneside (34) South Tyneside (33) Sunderland (36)

Warwickshire (36)
North Warwickshire (33) Nuneaton & Bedworth (33) Rugby (35) Stratford-on-Avon (32) Warwick (34)

West Midlands (57)
Birmingham (40) Coventry (37) Dudley (38) Sandwell (37) Solihull (41) Walsall (36) Wolverhampton (37)

West Sussex (42)
Adur (33) Arun (32) Chichester (32) Crawley (33) Horsham (35) Mid Sussex (37) Worthing (33)

West Yorkshire (60)
Bradford (29) Calderdale (34) Kirklees (33) Leeds (45) Wakefield (35)

Wiltshire (35)
Kennet (29) North Wiltshire (31) Salisbury (30) Swindon (32) West Wiltshire (30)

Worcestershire (42)
Bromsgrove (33) Malvern Hills (36) Redditch (35) Worcester (34) Wychavon (30) Wyre Forest (33)

Socialising > Companionship /befriending services in Scotland

Aberdeen (21) Aberdeenshire (20) Angus (20) Argyll & Bute (20) Clackmannanshire (20) Dumfries & Galloway (20) Dundee (20) East Ayrshire (20) East Dunbartonshire (21) East Lothian (20) East Renfrewshire (21) Edinburgh (23) Eilean Siar / Western Isles (20) Falkirk (20) Fife (21) Glasgow (22) Highland (20) Inverclyde (20) Midlothian (20) Moray (20) North Ayrshire (20) North Lanarkshire (20) Orkney Islands (20) Perth & Kinross (20) Renfrewshire (20) Scottish Borders (20) Shetland Islands (20) South Ayrshire (20) South Lanarkshire (20) Stirling (21) West Dunbartonshire (21) West Lothian (20)

Socialising > Companionship /befriending services in Wales

Anglesey (22) Blaenau Gwent (23) Bridgend (23) Caerphilly (24) Cardiff (24) Carmarthenshire (26) Ceredigion (23) Conwy (22) Denbighshire (23) Flintshire (23) Gwynedd (22) Merthyr Tydfil (23) Monmouthshire (23) Neath Port Talbot (23) Newport (24) Pembrokeshire (24) Powys (23) Rhondda Cynon Taff (23) Swansea (25) Torfaen (24) Vale of Glamorgan (25) Wrexham (23)

Socialising > Companionship /befriending services in Northern Ireland

Antrim (14) Armagh (14) Belfast (14) Down (14) Fermanagh (14) Londonderry (14) Tyrone (14)