A guide for families
Befriending Services for Elderly Parents: A Complete UK Guide
If your mum or dad has become quieter lately — fewer phone calls, less interest in going out, spending more time alone — loneliness may be a bigger part of their life than they let on.
Befriending services for elderly people exist specifically to address this: they provide regular, friendly contact, whether by phone, online or in person, for older people who don’t have enough of it. This guide covers every major befriending service available across the UK, who each one suits, and how to help your parent access them.
What is a befriending service?
A befriending service connects an older person with a trained volunteer for regular contact — a weekly phone call, a monthly visit, an online group, or a combination. It is social support, not personal or medical care. A befriender won’t assist with medication or washing; what they offer is time, conversation, and genuine interest.
Befriending services tend to be most useful for people who have lost the daily social contact that work provided, who have been bereaved, whose mobility makes getting out difficult, or who live some distance from their family.
National befriending services in the UK
All of the following services are free.
The Silver Line Helpline
0800 4 70 80 90
Run by Age UK, Silver Line is the only free, confidential telephone service for older people that operates around the clock, every day of the year, including Christmas. Anyone aged 55 or over can call 0800 4 70 80 90 simply to have a chat.
The same number connects to Age UK’s Telephone Friendship Service, which matches callers with the same volunteer befriending each week for a regular friendly call.
You or your parent can self-refer online at ageuk.org.uk/services/befriending-services, or by calling the Age UK Advice Line on 0800 678 1602.
Re-engage
020 8017 8245 · reengage.org.uk
Re-engage (formerly Contact the Elderly) runs two programmes for people aged 75 and over: monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties hosted by volunteers, and a Call Companions telephone befriending service that pairs people with a volunteer for a regular chat every one to two weeks.
In 2024–25, more than 6,600 older people took part in Re-engage services. Anyone can make a referral — family members included.
Independent Age
0800 319 6789 · independentage.org
Independent Age offers regular telephone and home-visit befriending through a network of trained volunteers, alongside a free helpline providing advice on care, benefits and finances.
Calls and visits can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly — arrangements are agreed with the older person at the outset. There is no upper age limit. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm.
Royal Voluntary Service
The Royal Voluntary Service runs a Good Neighbours befriending programme in which volunteers provide regular home visits with light practical support — a cup of tea and a chat, accompanied trips to appointments, help with shopping.
Availability varies by area and can be found by postcode on their website.
Marmalade Trust
Marmalade Trust runs events and friendship groups for people of all ages, including online sessions accessible from home — which makes it a useful option for those with limited mobility or who live in areas with fewer local services.
Your local council
Many local authorities fund companionship for elderly schemes through smaller local charities, often with shorter waiting times than national programmes. Contact your parent’s local authority adult social care team, or search through GOV.UK.
Signs your parent might benefit
These aren’t diagnostic criteria — they’re simply indications that a regular friendly voice might help. Your parent may benefit from a befriending service if:
- They have become noticeably quieter or more withdrawn
- They’ve stopped mentioning hobbies, friends or interests they used to talk about
- They’ve said they don’t want to be a burden
- They’ve lost a spouse or close friend in the past year or two
- They spend most of the day without any live conversation
How to help your parent access a service
Start gently
Framing it as something you discovered rather than something they need tends to land better: “I came across this thing where a volunteer calls for a chat once a week — shall we have a look?” leaves room for your parent to be curious rather than defensive.
Pick the right format
A telephone service is the lowest barrier to entry for most people. In-person options like Re-engage’s tea parties may suit someone who prefers company face to face, once they’re comfortable with the idea.
Make the first contact yourself if that helps
Most organisations are happy to speak to a family member first. You can find out how the service works and what to expect before raising it with your parent.
Don’t let a first no be the last word
Many people decline initially — they don’t see themselves as lonely, or they’re wary of a stranger calling. Waiting a few weeks and trying again is usually more productive than pressing the point.
While you’re waiting for a volunteer match — which can take anything from two weeks to two months depending on the organisation — a gentle daily check-in can help both of you feel more connected in the meantime.
How Hea fits alongside befriending services
Befriending services do something irreplaceable: they give your parent a real human voice — someone who calls on a Tuesday afternoon, remembers what they said last week, and asks how the appointment went. Nothing replaces that.
What befriending services can’t do is be there every morning. Volunteers call once a week, sometimes once a fortnight. And the days in between — particularly early mornings, which tend to be when loneliness is sharpest for older people — are still long.
This is where Hea fits in. Hea is a daily check-in for your parent, delivered through WhatsApp. Each morning, it asks a simple, friendly question about how they’re doing — their mood, their sleep, whether they’ve had any pain. Your parent responds in their own words, at their own pace. There’s nothing to download, no account to set up, no learning curve.
You receive a quiet weekly summary on your end — a clear picture of how your parent has been feeling across the week, not just on the day you happen to call. If something looks off, you’ll notice it. If everything’s fine, you’ll know that too — which, if you spend time worrying from a distance, is its own kind of relief.
The two things work well together precisely because they do different things. A befriending volunteer brings genuine human warmth and a relationship that builds over time. Hea makes sure no morning passes without someone gently checking in, and helps you stay close even when geography makes visiting difficult.
If your parent is on a waiting list for a befriending service — which can take four to eight weeks — Hea can bridge that gap from day one. And once they’re matched, both can run alongside each other without any conflict.
A befriending service gives your mum a friendly voice once a week.
Hea gives you a quiet daily check-in — so you always know how she’s doing between those calls.
Together, they mean very few days pass completely unnoticed.
See how Hea works → tryhea.com/gift-for-parents
Frequently asked questions
Are befriending services free?
Yes. The Silver Line, Age UK’s Telephone Friendship Service, Re-engage, Independent Age and most council-funded schemes are all free of charge. No organisation listed in this guide charges for befriending.
How long does it take to get matched with a befriending volunteer?
The Silver Line helpline is available immediately. The Age UK weekly friendship call can take two to four weeks; Re-engage and Independent Age matching can take four to eight weeks depending on volunteer availability in the area. It is worth contacting more than one organisation if waiting time is a concern.
Can befriending services help someone with dementia?
Some can, with caveats. Age UK notes that its telephone service may be less suitable for people with significant memory loss, as telephone friendship depends on some continuity of recall. Re-engage’s in-person tea parties can work well in the earlier stages of dementia. The Alzheimer’s Society (alzheimers.org.uk) offers its own support services, including befriending in some areas.
What if my parent refuses?
Start with the option that asks least of them — the Silver Line helpline, which they can try in their own time with no commitment to anything regular. If they try it once and find it useful, the conversation about something more regular becomes much easier.
Sources
- Age UK, You Are Not Alone in Feeling Lonely (December 2024) — ageuk.org.uk
- Age UK, Silver Line Helpline and Telephone Friendship Service — ageuk.org.uk/services/befriending-services
- Re-engage, Our Services — reengage.org.uk
- Independent Age, Get Support — independentage.org/get-support
- Royal Voluntary Service, Our Services — royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/our-services
