Friendship at Home CIO is a registered charity that began in September 2006 initially funded by a legacy left to Help the Aged, when a senior member spent the day with the local Handy Van and witnessed first-hand the loneliness and isolation that older people faced on a daily basis and wanted to make a commitment to help. The scheme initially only covered the Cleethorpes area but it soon became evident that more needed to be done.
Friendship at Home now offers friendship and support to older people, covering the whole of North East Lincolnshire.
We offer a variety of services for older people which include befriending, social clubs & activities, exercise groups, dementia support & advice, information & signposting and much more.
Our weekly social clubs and activities give older people a place to meet and have a chat over a cup of tea, building friendships that often continue outside of our clubs. Members have stated that it gives them a purpose and something to look forward to during the week.
For those receiving our befriending service, having a regular visit from a volunteer helps them to feel valued and cared for, which in turn increases their self esteem and confidence and lessens their feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Meet The Team
Lyse is a qualified social worker, who has been working for FaH for the last 15 years. She is responsible for providing day to day operational leadership and management of FaH, ensuring it continues to become an event more vibrant, wider-reaching and effective organisation for the benefit of older people. She also has previous experience volunteering in the community.
Mandy joined Friendship at Home in 2017. As well as being our Deputy Operational Manager, she is responsible for wellbeing support checks as part of our Over 75's Project. Mandy has worked in adult
social care most of her working life. She has a strong passion for improving the lives of people with
dementia and qualified as a registered social worker in 2015. Since joining Friendship at Home,
Mandy has completed her practice educator training and supports our student social workers.
Dawn is our Short Term Befriender. Some members only require this support whilst recovering from a hospital stay or to build confidence and Dawn can provide them with much needed support until they feel able to move on. Anyone requiring further support will go on our list for long-term befriending.
She also oversees the running
of the Monday morning Immingham Culture Club. Dawn joined the Friendship at Home team in
September 2017.
Cheryl joined us as an Administrator and Service Support Coordinator responsible for the daily administration and financial administration requirements of Friendship at Home. Cheryl has a varied background in teaching, administration, and finance. Cheryl is passionate to help expand and develop the services Friendship at Home can offer.
Beth is our newly appointed Volunteer Manager joining Friendship at Home in July 2022 having previously worked at children's homes under the local authority. Beth's role will be supporting our existing volunteers and recruiting new volunteers. She will help and support all volunteers in the many volunteering opportunities available. Working closely with Katy, our Community Link Worker, Beth will ensure that members and volunteers are well matched, achieving successful befriending and other relationships.
Peter grew up in South Africa and after a few career changes, he joined the building sector in sales and marketing until emigrating to the UK in 2002. He gained experience in the Care industry initially, on arriving in the UK, including experience as a Service Manager for a Hygiene Company. He then joined the British Red Cross in the operations office in Grimsby. At Friendship at Home he is now based at the Diana Princess of Wales hospital supporting discharge patients home.
Welcome Kim Booth to Friendship at Home. Kim is our new Community Link Worker and we are excited to have her join our team. She has been working in Community Care for nearly 30 years. She loves the company and interaction with older people and believes the Community Link Worker role is really enjoyable and she is looking forward to meeting you all.
Toni runs and co-ordinates our clubs such as; Monday Community Cuppa, Thursday Club Co-ordinator, Monday Bingo and Tuesday and Wednesday Choirs. Toni also helps organise the Events and Trips for Friendship at Home. Toni embraces the virtual world and has adapted to a new way of keeping members in touch and socially engaged by hosting and co-ordinating a variety of regular weekly groups held over Zoom. Toni is passionate about improving the lives of older people in the community and is proud to be part of Friendship at Home.
Clare became a part of Friendship at Home in 2017 with a strong commitment to improving the lives of individuals. Clare works on the Home from Hospital project, where she dedicates herself to assisting and providing support to patients during their transition back home after hospital discharge. Clare supervises the running of the Wednesday club social group, a tailored program carefully designed to address the needs of individuals dealing with memory loss or experiencing low moods. Her enduring enthusiasm has ignited a desire to pursue further education in the care sector, driven by her aspiration to expand her knowledge and skills to provide additional valuable services to the community.
Sharon joined Friendship at Home in January 2024. She is currently working in a newsagents and post office and has worked in a wide range of retail shops and also in the office at a Magistrates Court. She has also been a volunteer befriender with Friendship at Home for 6 months.
Sharon is an avid reader and puzzler, and likes to walk and keep fit. She will be mainly based at the Diana Princess of Wales hospital supporting discharge patients home, as part of our Hospital Discharge Service.
Leon is currently studying electrical engineering at university and has joined the Friendship at Home team from June 2022 to support members with using tablets through the on-loan tablet scheme. He will show individuals how to access virtual clubs through the Later Life Partnership App.
Dawn joined Friendship at Home in 2014. She has been involved in various roles including the Re-Integration Service, which helped our members get out and about once again and help build their confidence.
Dawn retired from her main duties in December 2021, but still oversees the running of the Tuesday Social Club.
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Our Trustees
Ray was an Elected Councillor with North East Lincs Council, representing the South Ward,
from 2012 until 2019 and was the Leader until his retirement in 2019. He was also an active
Portfolio Holder in the Council during this time and led on numerous Regional and National
Partnership and Government backed initiatives. Ray has worked as a Local Government Officer
for most of his 36 year career, latterly as an Executive Director level, until his retirement in 2010.
He has been on the Trustee Board of FAH since October 2010, was Deputy Chair from 2014 and in
August 2019 he was elected as Chair. Ray brings extensive public, governmental and
voluntary sector knowledge and experience in strategic and partnership working and leadership
and also has held a variety of Chairmanship and leadership roles within other voluntary and community sector Groups locally.
Ann works for the Lincolnshire Housing Partnership as a Support Officer. Ann has worked in and with several
charities during her adult life and has a vast experience of working within the Voluntary
and Statutory sectors.
Mick is one of our valued volunteers and has supported Friendship at Home as a volunteer since 2006. He transports many of our volunteers to clubs and activities. Mick is now retired, but in the past he has worked for North East Lincs Council as a member of their Neighbourhood team and Engweld /Energas as a sales engineer selling welding products. Mick has also given generous amounts of time as a member of the Trustee Board since October 2016. In his spare time Mick likes to volunteer to catalogue the Grimsby Archives, is a member of the West Marsh History Group and has been a Season Ticket Holder of Grimsby Town Football Club.
Mike is a retired NHS senior manager who joined the Trustee Board in April 2018 and has a keen interest in the health and well-being
of the local community. He brings experience of strategic management and the use of new
technology in the delivery of health and social care. Following retirement, Mike volunteered with Healthwatch NEL for over four years as a Board Member and a previous Chair of the Healthwatch Board. Mike has since resigned from the Healthwatch board and the STP strategic digital board.
Rob Walsh was appointed Chief Executive of North East Lincolnshire Council on 1 January 2014, having been with the local authority since it formed in 1996.
Following a decision taken by the Council and CCG in 2017 whereby the two would take their much advanced health and social care partnership even further, the Council/CCG “Union” was formed. On 1st August 2017 Rob was duly appointed Chief Executive of North East Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
In his role as Chief Executive Rob has been keen to promote the profile of the council and the borough with a view to creating the right conditions for investment, economic growth and community resilience, symbolised by the announcement by the Government of the country’s first Town Deal, for Grimsby.
Rob is a keen advocate of system integration, partnership working and a learning culture, recognising that an area like North East Lincolnshire can and will thrive if there is a clear vision and common purpose across all sectors – public, private, voluntary and community.
Kristine helped set up our popular Sporting Memories session back in 2019, ensuring those with a keen interest in sport can meet weekly for a chat. In 2020 she graduated from the University of Lincoln with a First Class honours in Communication and PR, receiving an award for best dissertation from CIPR. This has come in very handy as Kristine. She was appointed as the first female director of Grimsby Town Football club in May 2021. Anyone that knows Kristine, know that the Mariners are a great passion in the Green household!
Naveen has a background in Accountancy, starting his career with a firm of Chartered Accountants in London.
In business he has held senior finance and management roles in East and South Yorkshire. He was Finance Director for the UK operations for a very large American multinational, as well as leading on mergers and acquisitions for them across Europe. He also led on post-acquisition integration of the companies.
Outside of work, Naveen is a well-known member of his local community, not least because of his considerable involvement in the third sector (specifically working with vulnerable and disabled people). Naveen also has many years experience of the Health and Care sector, being a carer for an adult autistic son with severe disabilities.
Julie has recently been elected as Trustee at our AGM in September 2023.
She has worked in the Voluntary and Community Sector for over 35 years and over these years has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience, which will support in the role of Trustee. She founded Friendship at Home in 2006 and, with the help of Lyse Stephenson, developed the charity to what it is today. Since retiring she has the time to dedicate herself to being a Trustee and wants to help the charity grown even further.
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