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# New telephone befriending to help battle loneliness among LGBTQ+ older people
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/new-telephone-befriending-to-help-battle-loneliness-among-lgbtq-older-people/
- Published: 2022-03-14T10:00:18.000Z
- Updated: 2022-03-13T18:44:17.000Z
- Description: National charity Re-engage is launching a free telephone befriending service for older LGBTQ+ people who are especially vulnerable to loneliness, given decades of stigma and discrimination
- Author: Graham Robson
- Tags: News, LGBTQ

National charity **Re-engage** is launching a free **telephone befriending service** for older LGBTQ+ people who are especially vulnerable to loneliness, given decades of stigma and discrimination.

Re-engage, a charity dedicated to combating loneliness and social isolation in those aged 75 and over, hopes its new **Rainbow Call Companions** service, launched today, (**March 14**) will create a safe environment where people feel comfortable having open conversations. The service is specifically for LGBTQ+ people aged 75 and over who would like to speak to someone who’s also LGBTQ+. The same volunteer will phone each week to provide much needed friendship and conversation.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/screenshot-2022-03-13-at-11-52-15.png)

With the charity’s commitment to reaching a more diverse population of older people, it conducted interviews and an online survey to carry out research to better understand how it could provide services to older LGBTQ+ people based on their specific needs.

Research showed that as an older LGBTQ+ person, you are more likely to live [alone](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/files/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/socialcareissueslgbt.pdf), be [single](https://www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/LGB%5Fpeople%5Fin%5FLater%5FLife%5F%5F2011%5F.pdf?ref=scenemag.co.uk) and less likely to see your [biological family](https://www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/LGB%5Fpeople%5Fin%5FLater%5FLife%5F%5F2011%5F.pdf?ref=scenemag.co.uk) regularly. You are also less likely to have i[ntergenerational relationships](https://www.openingdoorslondon.org.uk/news/connect-only?ref=scenemag.co.uk) and [children](https://www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/LGB%5Fpeople%5Fin%5FLater%5FLife%5F%5F2011%5F.pdf?ref=scenemag.co.uk), which can often lead to your [‘family of choice’](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/files/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/socialcareissueslgbt.pdf) dwindling or increasingly unable to support you as you age together.

**Meryl Davies**, Re-engage CEO, says: “It’s not surprising to learn that a lifetime of exposure to discrimination and stigma can lead to high levels of stress and a strong sense of isolation. All too often, isolation is seen by older LGBTQ+ people as the price they have had to pay for their sexuality.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/shutterstock_1155590884.jpg)

“Rainbow Call Companions is an important milestone in this amazing charity’s commitment to reaching deep into communities and finding the older people who really need us.”

**Julian** from Southsea, who has signed up to become a Rainbow Call Companions volunteer, said: “Much progress has been made in attitudes towards sexuality and gender identity, but many older LGBTQ+ people continue to live a life behind closed doors. It was a very different time back then.

“I am thrilled to be part of Rainbow Call Companions. It’s a two-way street and I’m looking forward to sharing stories, listening, learning, supporting and building up a rapport with someone who may have no support network or safe place where they can be themselves.”

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/screenshot-2022-03-13-at-18-40-01.png)

Celebrities, including **Sue Perkins**, **Miriam Margolyes** and author **Ali Smith**, are backing the scheme to help older LGBTQ+ people feel valued and free to be open about their identities.

**If you would like to be matched with a friendly rainbow call companion, or know someone aged 75 and over from the LGBTQ+ community who could benefit from a weekly chat, call 0800 716 543 (freephone) or email** [**samuel.higgins@reengage.org.uk**](mailto:samuel.higgins@reengage.org.uk)