Preston North End Community and Education Trust is taking referrals to engage with isolated members of the Preston community and the surrounding areas through a variety of means, as part of the Tackling Loneliness Together programme.
The Trust received a grant of £32,000 earlier this summer, as part of a wider grant of £810,000 awarded to the EFL Trust which has been distributed between 32 EFL Clubs to support isolated elderly people across the UK, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Make a referral for the Tackling Loneliness Together programme
As part of the programme, we have been conducting online Zoom meetings catering to different groups in the community on weekdays, making socially distanced garden visits and we will soon be hosting socially distanced walks for small groups to exercise and socialise.
Zoom groups have included meetings for a Preston North End fans group, the PNE - Part-time Nutrition and Exercise - activity sessions, and members of our Sporting Memories, PNE Forces and walking football programmes.
We are also providing services that will enable people to stay in touch with others from home, through a phone call referral scheme, and a pen pal initiative that will invite people to get involved by writing letters of support to one and another during the continued difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Socially distanced walks are set to take place on Thursdays and anyone over the age of 50 is invited to join, with an initial meeting point of Moor Park, overlooking Deepdale.
As the socially distanced walks are the only sessions on the programme taking place in person and at a central meeting point, prospective participants must wear a mask, provide track and trace data and sign-up information and come prepared for the walk with any water or medication, and in the knowledge that no changing or toilet facilities are available.
If you would like to refer someone to benefit from one of these initiatives or would like to be part of one of the programmes yourself, please fill in our online referral form here or contact Alistair.White@pne.com.
* Update: Please note that our socially distanced walking club, Lilywhites Leisure Walks, is not currently taking place due to national lockdown measures. We will provide an update on our social media channels when Lilywhites Leisure Walks have resumed.