Three new support groups are being set up to help tackle isolation with regular get-togethers, started by the Orange Line confidential telephone service run by the hospice.
The new groups opening in Dagenham, Chadwell Heath and Ilford expand its established support network across Havering and Brentwood.
They aim to reach people who are bereaving and who want to connect with others in similar circumstances.
“It’s the connections that people yearn for,” Orange Line project manager Karen Freeman said. “The impact of bringing people together can be life changing.”
The first group kicks off next week in Dagenham, meeting every fortnight for brunch on a Friday from 10am to 12 noon at the Pipe Major pub in Yew Tree Avenue, the first gathering on October 17.
MORE NEWS: Lithuanians show ‘remarkable unity’ after mum-of-three killed in Hornchurch
The second group starts November 17 at the Chadwell Heath and Whalebone Hub in London Road, from 2pm to 4pm, on the third Monday every month.
Orange Line also identified a third group of carers in Ilford needing a venue to meet and have something to look forward to, as a respite for the support they give others.
It starts November 6, from 10 to 11.30am, at 1856 Café at Hainault Forest, in Fox Burrow Road, then meeting every Thursday.
“We simply provide the opportunity to bring people together,” Karen said.
“They work through their struggles with others they feel safe among, who may become friends offering lifelines as they navigate their way to a future that they previously couldn’t visualise.
“We see people arriving on their first visit saying nothing — but after a few weeks finding their confidence, their voice and their new place in society.”
There are 12 regular ‘circles of friends’ meeting at Orange Line’s bereavement groups.
Many take their circle into a new self-supporting group which allows the Orange Line team to “take a step back and plant new groups” for people in isolation elsewhere needing a helping hand.
Three more groups are also being set up in the coming months in Barking and Dagenham.
