Over the year, between April 2021 and March 2022 over 8,300 older people took part in our services, supported by almost 11,000 volunteers.

You may remember that back in May we conducted our large 2021-22 annual impact survey with older people and volunteers.  Today we’re delighted to share the results with you.

Our older people told us:

"It has made a big difference to my life, it's given me more social confidence and something to look forward to each month."

87% of older people told us joining Re-engage has given them something to look forward to.

76% of older people have made friends with Re-engage volunteers.

70% of older people told us they feel less lonely thanks to Re-engage.

Our volunteers told us:

"Making a difference to my older person makes every second of my volunteering worthwhile."

94% of volunteers feel like they are making a difference to somebody.

90% of volunteers feel like they are giving back.

76% of volunteers told us their understanding of loneliness and social isolation has increased and they have become more aware of the challenges faced by older people.

About our older people and volunteers:

Every charity wants to be sure that it’s making an impact. That’s why we talk directly to our older people and volunteers about the impact of our work, rather than make assumptions.

In 2021-2022 we:

• received 5,311 survey responses across our research and evaluations.
• conducted over 90 in depth interviews.
• received 1,581 responses to our annual survey.

All of this feedback gives us a fantastic understanding of the impact of our work and the ways in which older people and volunteers benefit from being a part of Re-engage.

Within our surveys we often ask about people’s different characteristics, such as age, gender and sexuality. In 2021-22, we discovered that 76% of our older people are widowed and have long-term health conditions and that 85% are women. We also learnt that 49% of our volunteers are in employment, 4% identify as LGBT+ and 71% are aged 55+.

Re-engage is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging and all of this information is vital for understanding the different people who benefit from and volunteer with Re-engage. It helps us to improve and adapt our services to better support both older people and volunteers already with us, and to look for ways to reach an increasingly diverse population of older people and volunteers.