YJC The Dinner That Never Was

Emma Gold, a 25-year-old fashion stylist and brand creator, never imagined that she would become so close with Yetta, an older member of the community, thanks to Jewish Care’s telephone befriending scheme. 

Before the pandemic, Emma was used to a flexible way of working and used to managing her own time, but when the pandemic hit, studios closed, work began to dry up and she had more time on her hands.

That’s when she reached out to Jewish Care, responding to an email asking for volunteers to become telephone befrienders; making regular phone calls to older members of the community who had suddenly found themselves isolated, lonely, and unable to continue their regular social contact.

Emma said, “I remember being very nervous before calling. I’m not always as confident on the phone as I am in person. What drove me to volunteer was the thought of all those people who rely on Jewish Care for support and who may have had their usual social contact taken away from them due to the pandemic. I kept thinking “What’s their day going to look like now?”. I didn’t really know what to expect when I first called Yetta. We initially had a very short conversation and got on well, but I never imagined that it would become such an ingrained part of my weekly routine, and one that I enjoy every time I pick up the phone. Even now, I call her every single week. There is never any pressure to speak for a long period of time, and sometimes we can be on the phone for five minutes or half an hour discussing everything from art, to my new business venture, to cooking and poetry. I can’t imagine a week that goes by where I don’t call her.