Karis BeFriends
Our Karis BeFriends project can help older adults across Ladywood, Edgbaston and Harborne to make new connections and continue to flourish into later life. Each year we support around 180 individuals with over 2,000 points of contact including individual visits, trips and phone calls and a range of group activities.
We reach out to those who feel isolated or lonely and can visit people at home with a view to connecting people to our activities in the community - giving people chance to get out and connect with others.
These include our Time for Tea events, held bi-monthly at Queen Alexandra College in Harborne, and our Senior Life Group, weekly at Oasis Church just off the Harborne High Street. Our group events always feature speakers or activities, sometimes topical or seasonal, and a chance to get moving - but also discussions about more difficult topics that affect us all, like 'end of life', change and scams. It's a chance for people to meet each other, share their lives and receive support from each other as well as from our staff and volunteers.
We also host an Art Group which takes place every two weeks at our office in North Edgbaston, it's a relaxed and friendly environment led by one of our participants. We work in just about every medium you can imagine and enjoy time together chatting and sharing stories and food.
Alongside getting to know people and helping them to build connections, we do also offer a neighbourly helping hand, offering occasional help with practical tasks in the home, getting to an appointment, or connecting to other support.
We reach out to those who feel isolated or lonely and can visit people at home with a view to connecting people to our activities in the community - giving people chance to get out and connect with others.
These include our Time for Tea events, held bi-monthly at Queen Alexandra College in Harborne, and our Senior Life Group, weekly at Oasis Church just off the Harborne High Street. Our group events always feature speakers or activities, sometimes topical or seasonal, and a chance to get moving - but also discussions about more difficult topics that affect us all, like 'end of life', change and scams. It's a chance for people to meet each other, share their lives and receive support from each other as well as from our staff and volunteers.
We also host an Art Group which takes place every two weeks at our office in North Edgbaston, it's a relaxed and friendly environment led by one of our participants. We work in just about every medium you can imagine and enjoy time together chatting and sharing stories and food.
Alongside getting to know people and helping them to build connections, we do also offer a neighbourly helping hand, offering occasional help with practical tasks in the home, getting to an appointment, or connecting to other support.
“My sister has been seeing her befriender for nearly two years. Being autistic and having to adapt to supported living after moving from the family home has been a huge challenge. However, Helen's support (project lead), who she goes out with for coffee or shopping, has provided a valued and much needed companionship. At Time for Tea she gets to enjoy social time in a safe and supervised setting, which is fantastic. These outings bring much needed relief to an otherwise quite isolated life, we (the family) are so grateful."
Client family, 2024
Client family, 2024
"I can’t thank you enough for your visits - I really look forward to you coming. Thank you for the daffodils - still looking good on the window sill. I love to receive the ‘news’ from Karis and the puzzles! And thank you for the ‘goody bag’- much appreciated! Thank you so much for everything."
Karis BeFriends Client, 2024
Karis BeFriends Client, 2024