SERVE is a voluntary organisation and a registered charity.

We have been providing services and assistance to older people and adults with disabilities in North Northamptonshire and the surrounding area for over 40 years. Our aim is to provide the highest quality of health and social care to enable people to remain living independently within their own homes. We deliver a service to a wide range of adults who need care and support.

The reality is, not everyone has a family or friend support network that they can rely on for guidance and advice to help them through difficult times. Volunteers 18+ can help fill this gap by offering free time and providing support.

Research shows that older people living on their own risks loneliness and social isolation and needs more emotional support, companionship, and timely support to sustain their mental and physical wellbeing.

Our befriending service helps to reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness for older people across North Northamptonshire, enabling individuals to remain living independently in their own home. The results of befriending can be very significant. We receive referrals from statutory, private, and voluntary sectors for older people 65+ who are lonely, isolated, and frail. Befriending offers supportive, reliable relationships through volunteer befrienders to people who would otherwise be socially isolated.

In addition, we have recently launched Servescape. This is a community gardening project supported by the Big Lottery Community Fund. We provide volunteers to support older people to look after their gardens that will be maintained monthly that will include a handy-help service to support with installing key safes, grab rails, fence repairs along with other outdoor minor adaptations as needed. To access Servescape one of the following criteria must be met: Service User is in receipt of Pension Credit, 65+ living alone, and are carers supporting a disabled person in their own home. There is a small annual membership of £25 and an hourly charge of £10 per hour.

For more information about Volunteering with our Befriending Service or Servescape Project, please go to our website https://serve.org.uk or telephone 01933 315555.