A young people’s befriending charity that supported 2,000 care homes ‘virtually’ during the pandemic is restarting in-home visits this autumn.

During the pandemic Yopey got young people to write letters to care home residents and initiate activities for the elderly to enjoy. The number of care homes the charity supported went from about a dozen to more than 2,000.

Now the charity wants to restart its Yopey Befriender scheme, where young people are trained to relate to people living with dementia and supported to visit a local care home.

Yopey says it may limit in-home schemes to six care settings because it also wants to continue supporting the 2,000 care homes virtually and with letters.

It costs Yopey £6,000 to set up a new Yopey Befriender scheme and to run it for a year. However, the charity has been given a donation that will cover two-thirds of its costs, leaving each care home to pay £2,000.

Yopey’s founder Tony Gearing said: “Yopey Befriender is wonderful for care homes and residents alike. The residents enjoy the young taking an interest in them and giving them someone they can share their wisdom with. Home managers tell us Yopey Befriender also reduces stress and anxiety among residents.

Gearing claimed that before coronavirus its intergenerational befriending contributed to CQC upgradings for about a quarter of the homes at which it worked.

During a typical year-long scheme, the Yopey Befrienders will visit each care home hundreds of times. Yopey compiles their visit reports into a comprehensive document for each home to show to the CQC.

A home in Norfolk went from Good to Outstanding after the inspectors found Yopey Befriender “helped to reduce people’s isolation and was particularly good for people who did not like big group activities. The service made them feel involved and happy.”

A Suffolk home also achieved Outstanding after inspectors saw it had “strong links to the local community” by being involved in a Yopey Befriender scheme. “On a weekly basis pupils spent time with people living at the home. The intergenerational socialising was of benefit to all.”

A Bedfordshire home went from Requires Improvement to Good after inspectors reported “working really well was the Yopey Befriender scheme. This involved young people volunteering to visit people in a care home near their school to help ease loneliness and learn life lessons.”