When Marta moved to the UK from Poland, she found leaving behind family and friends very challenging. So when she saw a Re-engage social media ad calling for people to make phone calls to an older person during December she immediately signed up. And months later, she is still regularly phoning her call companion, Patrick.

“When I came to England it was hard and it took a long time to make new friends. I understand how lonely life can be sometimes, and it made me sad to think of someone having no one to talk, especially at Christmas.” said Marta, 37.

“This is the first time I’ve volunteered and I’m so glad I did. It’s been absolutely brilliant. Patrick is an incredible person and has become like a father figure. His wife died a couple of years ago and he misses her so much. He has close family who all keep in touch and he gets out. In fact, he even does a bit of volunteering himself – taking people to hospital appointments. But he doesn’t want to burden his family, which is why he likes to talk to me. 

“We discuss anything - families, friends, holidays, neighbours, even cats and it’s an absolute pleasure talking to him.” 

Marta, a cyber-security manager, who lives in London with her partner and two young children, added: “I originally signed up for three months as a call companion, but now I want to continue for as long as possible because I get on so well with Patrick.”

Patrick was at a particularly low ebb when he started receiving the calls from Marta. He was grieving for Lily, his wife of 58 years, who had died in 2022, and had experienced (and thankfully has recovered from) serious illness himself.

“I was in a desperate situation,” said Patrick, 79, from Scunthorpe. “I was beginning to wonder why I was still here. But then I began talking to Marta and she brought me around. I feel completely different now. She’s a saviour."

Patrick spent more than 20 years in the Royal Artillery, completing tours of the Far East, Germany and Northern Ireland. During his military career he also spent a decade as a Families Officer before leaving aged 52 to become a college estates manager in Scunthorpe.

“The calls are a brilliant idea.” he added. “Marta and I get on very well and have the same ideals in life which gives plenty of scope for us to chat. I want them to continue for as long as possible.”