Author: Rebecca Billington

With family living some distance away I don’t have anyone visiting other than a neighbour and her husband who I became friendly with during the pandemic. This has proved vital and a real lifeline to me given my recent hip surgery. The Sightline Telephone Befriending Service has provided another opportunity for friendship…

Jack is a natural befriender – he’s such a good listener. We’re always laughing about one thing or another too. I enjoy listening to podcasts so we’re always sharing recommendations what to try.
I’d whole heartedly recommend the Sightline service to others who are sight impaired. I’ve found it a complete tonic for my soul and look forward to the call every week…

It’s really rewarding to know that I am having an impact on someone’s life in a positive way. Yes, everyone’s sight loss journey is different but we’re on common ground and I know these calls benefit everyone involved just through having these conversations…

I have the pleasure of being matched with a very chatty befriendee – he’s currently on holiday with his wife and we agreed to still have our calls whilst he’s away. Our conversations cover all sorts of subjects from music and politics to sport and gardening…

Liam is a great help to me, not least as he is great with technology. He’s been able to recommend products that might be helpful to me in my workplace and also some tech around the house. I would never know about some of these things had I not reached out to Sightline so I’m very glad I did…

The difference the Sightline service makes to me is priceless really. I would feel down in the dumps if my calls with Maggie didn’t happen. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and it certainly does for our calls…

I really feel my calls with Mike help him massively. He is out of work just now and in his late thirties like me. I offer him my advice on how I gained employment and told him how explaining what steps my employer can take to make role accessible for me; has been mutually beneficial…

I have been chatting with Kate for 12 months now and I really don’t know what I’d do if we didn’t have our weekly calls. I class her as my closest friend now even though I’ve never met her in person and know I never will. I’m 81 and a lot of my friends have passed away now sadly…

My Sightline befriender is lovely, and we are approaching our 3-year befriending anniversary in August! We chat about what we’ve been up to each week. She’ll always ask me what theatre show I’ve been to and if I enjoyed it…