2024 Winner - Nepean Food Service

2024 Meals on Wheels NSW Innovation Awards

Nepean Food Services Share a Cuppa Program

Nepean Food Services introduced the Share a Cuppa program (the program) as a new free service in September 2023 with the intention of addressing social isolation.

The program involves coordinating volunteers to provide one-on-one contact with clients who have limited opportunities to get out into the community and who would benefit from regular friendly face-to-face communication. This individual support is generally provided in the client’s home and it targets those who are isolated and/or lonely with the intention of enabling them to continue to live at home for as long as they are able.

The matching of volunteers to clients is based on recognising and supporting the preferences of both the client and the volunteer. The Volunteer Coordinator regularly monitors the ongoing relationship between the volunteer and the client to ensure that both parties are happy with their involvement and that boundaries are clear and have not been crossed.

A volunteer recruitment process was also carried out to find volunteers who have advanced listening skills and have a very clear understanding of professional boundaries. The importance of keeping boundaries will be reinforced including limiting visits to agreed visiting hours, recognising the difference between being friendly and being friends, respecting client confidentiality and consistently advising the office if any issues arise rather than trying to solve the issue on their own.

Since the program was launched, we have 30 clients sign up for the service and enlisted a total of 14 volunteers, including three new volunteers and 11 existing volunteers. Most volunteers involved in the program will visit more than one client on a consistency that is suitable for both the client and the volunteer. Usually this is on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

Outcomes of the Project Initiative
Initial results from both clients and volunteers being highly positive. Clients reported that they looked forward to visits with their paired volunteer and expressed gratitude for the connections made with them. Overall, the program has had purposeful outcomes that have resulted in achieving our goal of enhancing health, wellbeing and independence.