GibSilver builds momentum with plans to widen services and recruit more volunteers

GibSilver, an initiative by GibSams aimed at supporting Gibraltar’s older residents, is experiencing rapid growth and positive feedback just two months after its launch.

The service, which offers both a Listening and a Befriending programme, has already made a significant impact, with nearly 100 calls and a growing pool of dedicated volunteers.

GibSilver is a helpline and befriending service for people over 55 to address loneliness and isolation in Gibraltar, and was launched by GibSams in April with the programme operating since July.

“GibSilver is going really well at the moment. We’ve launched our service, and that got launched as of the 8th of July, and since that launch, we’ve done over 100 befriending calls,” said Ray Guy from GibSams.

“We have had feedback from both volunteers and befriendees and all of that has been really, really positive.”

“And they see an increase to their well-being on both sides, by volunteering for the service and by utilising the service offering,” said Ms Guy.

The initiative operates two main services under its banner.

The first one is a listening service. where people can contact the 8000 phoneline between 6pm to 8pm Monday to Friday.

“Somebody will be there, a trained volunteer will be there to answer that telephone. And that telephone conversation is guided by the person that contacts that number. And they are free to talk about anything, and that’s a confidential service,” she said.

The second offering is the befriending service, which matches users with volunteers based on shared interests, language, and preferences.

“We have a trained set of volunteers, similar to our listening service, and they cover their interests and hobbies. We do the same with our befriendees and we would match a befriendee with a befriender based on a set of criteria of things, like who they would want from a gender perspective, language perspective, because it is not just English-speaking volunteers we have,” said Ms Guy.

Alongside English speakers, the charity has volunteers fluent in Spanish, German, Filipino and Croatian.
“And the reason that's crucial is because we want commonality between the befriendee and the befriender, so that there's those common interests, that commonality to create those long, lasting relationships through conversation,” she added.

A new addition to the programme is a weekly coffee morning, held in partnership with GADS and Pizza Express at Ocean Village.

“That will be every Monday between 9:30 and 11 from the 8th of September. And that’s where people can choose to go down and hear about the service, if they’re interested in the service from a befriending perspective, or if it’s from a volunteer perspective, they can come and join that coffee morning,” she said.
The listening service is also set to expand its hours.

“We are looking to go to seven days a week as well,” she said, citing the importance of weekend support for those who may feel isolated.

“We saw that as a crucial element of sort of evolving the service,” she added.

Volunteer recruitment has been a key focus, with 45 volunteers currently active and eight more due to be trained.

“Our core aim is, the hope is, that we could get to 80 by the end of October, and that’s fully trained, fully vetted and fully established in the organisation,” said Ms Guy.

The service currently supports around 25 befriendees, with many receiving weekly calls.

“In eight weeks [since the beginning of the service], some of them have had multiple calls as they have started their weekly calls… So that’s why we’re up to over 100 calls,” said the CEO of Gib Sams, Brenda Cuby.

Training for volunteers is comprehensive, covering topics such as loneliness, suicide, dementia, and active listening.

“A lot of people, when they come to the training, they’re like, why do we need 12 hours of training to have a conversation?”

“And I’m like, because we are not teaching how to have a conversation. You know how to have a conversation, but it’s about the types of people that you might encounter,” said Mrs Cuby.

"We talk about loneliness, we touch on suicide, we touch on dementia, we touch on how to have these conversations and what to be listening out for, because there's a difference in having a conversation and actually listening to a conversation.”

To enable more volunteers to partake in the service GibSams is trying to make training as accessible as possible.

They have done training sessions on weeknights and weekends and this month, in conjunction with the Kumusa Trust and PJI Foundation (Isolas), they are running corporate training.

"A lot of companies give a day of volunteer leave. So what we're saying to them is, can you allow [interested staff] to take that two hours over six weeks in company time to come and be trained?” said Mrs Cuby.

She explained that a lot of people who start the training have a fear that they will say the wrong thing or not react how they should. This is why training is important, said Mrs Cuby, adding that it is a cumulative process.

"In the first session, it's all about getting to know you. It's understanding your biases, the judgments that we make that we don't even realise we make those judgments. And so it's getting people to understand that and understanding how you can change that quite easily if you're just listening,” she said.

“So, if you're not trying to always think to fix and you're just listening, then the biases seem to disappear. So, we build on that, and then we build on the different parts of the service.”

“And it's built in a way that if there was ever a difficult call, it automatically clicks in.”

“It's very difficult to explain, but everybody who experiences it says ‘my training clicked in’.”

She also emphasised the importance of ongoing support for volunteers, including shift leaders who are debriefed by the volunteer at the end of the shift, and well-being checks.

Reflecting on GibSilver’s rapid growth, Ms Guy said: “I’ve been really surprised, and I think a lot of that has been around how quickly we’ve been able to launch this service and how quickly it has grown, and most of that is down to the generosity of our volunteer pool.”

GibSilver continues to seek more volunteers and donations to expand its reach.

“Like every charity, I am always on the lookout for volunteers and I am always on the lookout for donations,” said Ms Guy.

For more information or to get involved, residents are encouraged to attend the weekly coffee mornings or contact the service directly at 8000.

Visit www.gibsams.gi or go to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GIBSAMS