Why I volunteer with Re-engage, and why you should too

Some things come full circle. When I was 14, I started working evenings and weekends as a hostess in a care home. I stayed until I was 18, and in those four years I met some of the most fascinating people of my life - storytellers, characters, people with decades of history and humour who had so much to give, they just only needed someone to sit down with them and listen.

At Birdie, our mission is to materially improve the lives of older adults, and care sits at the heart of everything we do. That’s why every Birdie gets up to two fully paid volunteering days each year to spend supporting the the social care sector.

Re-engage is a befriending charity that connects volunteers with older people who are socially isolated - mostly through regular phone calls or in-person gatherings. I signed up to their telephone befriending service with the hope I could share it with the wider company and encourage others to do the same.  A few weeks in, I can already tell you, it’s so worthwhile.

Meet ‘Margaret’

I've only had a couple of calls so far with the older person I've been matched with - I'll call her Margaret here.

She's a former BBC broadcaster, wickedly funny, and thoroughly Welsh. Within minutes of our first conversation, I knew this was going to be a brilliant match.

Margaret seemed to have absolutely no memory of signing up to Re-engage - it turns out the small print (I admittedly had not read throughly enough) does warn you that sometimes a long time passes between sign-up and first contact.

She was warm and instantly engaging, but genuinely baffled by why a stranger was calling her out of the blue. Her solution was delivered with complete conviction: we should simply swap personal numbers. I tried to gently explain the official line from Re-engage – something about data privacy and keeping phone numbers separate - but Margaret was having none of it. Before I knew it, she had read out both her home phone and mobile numbers, along with the spelling of her full name. I could already tell she was someone who didn't do things by halves.

She left such an impression that I walked away from the call smiling. It was clear she was a strong, determined woman, and I've genuinely looked forward to every conversation since.

What I've taken from it so far

I'm only a few months in, but the impact has already surprised me. I look forward to these calls in a way I didn't anticipate – there's something grounding about stepping outside the pace of a working day to connect with someone whose path I might never have otherwise crossed. Margaret is sharp and funny, and has stories I haven't even begun to get to the bottom of yet.

It's also made me reflect on what I learned all those years ago in the care home: that older people are not a category, they're individuals - with opinions, wit, and a lot to teach you, if you show up consistently and pay attention.

Should you sign up?

If you've ever thought about volunteering and haven’t quite managed to start, Re-engage is genuinely a great charity to consider. The time commitment is light and spread over a prolonged period, the training is straightforward, and the matching process is thoughtful.

You might get matched with someone who remembers signing up. You might not. Either way, I have a feeling the conversation will be worth it. It’s a small commitment that makes a real difference – and a powerful reminder of why we do what we do at Birdie.

Are you interested in befriending older adults? You can find out more about volunteering with Re-engage on their website.

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