A FOOD delivery service evolved during lockdown into a way of tackling loneliness in the pandemic.

And real friendships have been forged thanks to Food Train Phone Friends, a scheme where volunteers are matched with over-65s.

Food Train, a charity which helps older people to live well and eat well in their own homes, is best known across Glasgow for its Govanhill-based home shopping service.

Phone Friends connects an older person with a volunteer who regularly phones them for a chat - giving them someone with whom they can share how they are and enjoy a laugh.

Its reach has been widened amid concerns about older people suffering from increased social isolation as a result of the prolonged nature of the pandemic.

Colette, 46, executive director at Morgan Stanley, said: “The friendships you build through Phone Friends are fantastic.

"By speaking to someone every week you really get to know them, their likes and dislikes, as well as their hobbies and interests.

“You develop a good understanding about their lives and vulnerabilities and often find you have an awful lot in common.

"I have so much in common with one of my phone friends that I wonder if we are somehow related.”

Colette believes calls make a “world of difference” to older people and added: “On so many occasions my phone friends tell me how much they have looked forward to my call.

"For some, this is the only regular interaction they will have with another person, particularly as many older people are having to shield.”

Colette built a special bond with one of her phone friends in particular, which was highlighted after her mum passed away earlier this year.

“I contacted Food Train to let them know about my situation and they called my phone friends to let them know I wouldn’t be able to call them for a few weeks and offered them alternative volunteers,” she said.

“One in particular was very touched by my sad news and wanted to wait for my return rather than speaking to anyone else.

"When I did return after a few weeks the compassion and care I received from her on the call was so touching.

“Our relationship has grown to be very strong, it’s fair to say that we have both helped each other through difficult and challenging times and have built a lasting friendship for which we are both very grateful.”

Catherine Lucas, 44, a colleague of Colette’s at Morgan Stanley, is another of the volunteers.

Describing how she and her friend bonded over a love of animals, she said: “It felt so natural from the outset. We clicked right away.

“I look forward to our calls every week - my friend has led such an interesting life and is enormously proud of her family.

"She talks about them all the time. I feel honoured that she shares this with me.”

Food Train first opened its Phone Friends to members after volunteers made check-in calls to older people during lockdown - to ensure people were well and had all they needed - when many of its members were unable to enjoy the social side of shopping deliveries or days out organised by the charity.

That service to members has seen volunteers make 1550 calls - chatting to older people for 28,000 minutes.

The response to it has been so positive that the service - which costs £5 per month to join - is being made available to non-members too. Phone calls can be weekly, fortnightly or less often if people wish.

Morna O’May, who is overseeing Food Train’s Phone Friends service, said: “Covid has had a huge impact on older people who have had to shield and isolate.

"Because of the length of time this is going on for, they are losing confidence in being able to get back out and about again in public.

“It is creating a situation where people who had a connection to their community are losing that and those who were already isolated are feeling it even more keenly.

“The Phone Friend service is an ideal way to make connections again from the safe environment of your own home.

“We have volunteers vetted, trained and ready to be matched.

"Because it is a phone service, geography doesn’t matter - we can match an older person with a volunteer anywhere in Scotland.”

The programme is now expanding from one that is available to Food Train members only, to the wider public.

For more information about Phone Friends, call 0800 048 9945 or email phonefriends@foodtrainconnects.org.uk