Two YOPEY Befrienders became television stars when they appeared on ITV Anglia News (Tuesday 2 July) – for their amazing volunteering with care home residents in Huntingdon.
Roanne, 17, and Katie, 23, both Health and Social Care students at Cambridge Regional College’s Huntingdon campus, have been helping out at Primrose Hill Care Home, part of the Abbey Healthcare group. Their volunteering has seen them giving over 200 hours of their time to entertaining the residents, enriching their lives, whilst developing their own personal skills – skills that they will carry forward into the world of work.
They were inspired to befriend residents by Tony Gearing MBE, founder of the East of England charity YOPEY, which stands for Young People of the Year. YOPEY recruits, trains and supports young people to become ‘YOPEY Befrienders’, befriending lonely elderly people living in care homes, especially those with dementia diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
The pair’s confidence has skyrocketed whilst working in the care home – something noted by Home Manager Amanda Favell. She said: “As a care home, we are always reaching out to bridge the gap between our care home and the community to ensure the residents continue to feel a part of the community. When we were contacted by Tony, we really wanted to support the YOPEY initiative.
“The YOPEY Befrienders have had a massive impact on our residents. They enjoy spending time completing activities, chatting and getting to know the befrienders. They have chatted about many subjects and have asked on several occasions when the befrienders are coming in next.
“It has been amazing to see both Roanne and Katie grow. Roanne came in a very quiet young lady and now she is very confident, leads activities, and is greeted by residents as soon as she comes in.
“It’s been a pleasure to have had the experience of inspiring the befrienders, who could be our future carers and nurses.”
The duo has been visiting the care home as part of a thriving YOPEY Dementia Befriender Community Partnerships between the college, two schools and four care homes in Huntingdon. Students from CRC Huntington visit residents at Primrose Hill and its sister home, Cromwell House. Sixth-formers from Hinchingbrooke School visit residents at Ferrars Hall, part of the Country Court group, and Excelcare home Hunters Down. St Peter’s School is the last secondary education establishment in the Cambridgeshire town to join the partnerships.
Young People of the Year was set up by Tony Gearing, a former national newspaper journalist, in 2004 to correct the negative images of young people in the media in the early noughties.
From 2005 to 2017 Tony held over 80 Young People of the Year contests from London to Scotland, with one every year in Cambridgeshire from 2006 to 2017. YOPEY became a registered charity in 2012. The first YOPEY Befriender partnerships were trialled in 2013 and are now the main thing done by YOPEY, bridging the generational gap.
Not even the pandemic stopped YOPEY Befrienders supporting locked-down care home residents, with the young people writing letters, and making activities, artworks and videos for the elderly people to enjoy and stay connected with the outside world. YOPEY distributed these materials to over 2,000 care homes UK-wide.
Tony said: “We are now back to running face-to-face befriending partnerships between care homes and sixth-forms or colleges, although we do still send out occasional packs of letters.
“Roanne and Katie are great YOPEY Befrienders. We ask our young volunteers to visit for an hour a week. Roanne and Katie enjoy their volunteering so much, they often stay all day at Primrose Hill.
“Through YOPEY, they have built up impressive Records of Volunteering Achievement that they can download from their yopeybefriender.org profile and show to future employers.”