Hello! We’re a charity lead by health students who started this initiative to help promote social connection in the Australian community, and fight loneliness and isolation.
We began in 2020, when COVID-19 lockdowns and distancing shone a spotlight on the effects of loneliness and social isolation. A small group of medical students from Monash University began a service, where community members could sign up to be matched with a dedicated student volunteer to have regular chats and grow companionship over the phone. Simple, right?
Since then we've been amazed at how we’ve grown, driven by students nationwide looking for a way to make a difference. Our volunteers come from a range of clinical backgrounds (such as medicine, nursing, allied health and more) all around Australia, but we all understand how important social connectedness is to overall health and wellbeing.
Our phone service is still going strong, spearheaded by our passionate volunteers. Many of us speak multiple languages, and come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and walks of life. If you or a friend/family member might like a friendly chat to pass the time - we're here for you!
And even as we move on from COVID-19, social isolation continues to be a barrier to a healthy and happy life. We’re excited to grow new projects to bring our community together and find new ways to support social connection in Australia!
