Bird feeding charity supports isolated people across Shropshire

Feed the Birds was founded by Shropshire Wildlife Trust in 2016 after a suggestion by the mother of one of the trustees. After noticing her elderly neighbours were unable to maintain their bird feeders, she wondered if volunteers could visit to look after them and, at the same time, provide some company.

A pilot scheme led by coordinator Diane Monether and involving 15 volunteers was launched with the Wildlife Trust working alongside Shropshire CCG and Severn Hospice to provide training and identify people who may benefit from a befriending service.

Diane says they immediately saw the positive impact volunteers’ visits were having on the beneficiaries’ wellbeing. “It made an amazing difference,” she adds.

After the success of the pilot, the scheme was expanded and in 2019 secured funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.

During Covid, Feed the Birds proved even more of a lifeline as one of the only befriending schemes that could continue to operate, since volunteers could still visit people in their gardens.

“Covid reinforced why it was so important. We all had experience of social isolation during Covid which many of us had never experienced before and we didn’t like it.

“When we came out of it, we could pick up our social lives again but some people are permanently socially isolated,” says Diane.

In 2024, Feed the Birds became an independent charity and received funding from the National Lottery to employ Diane as a part-time member of staff– she was previously employed by Shropshire Wildlife Trust – which enabled it to expand further by taking on more volunteers and client referrals.

The charity provides one-to-one visits by a trained volunteer who sets up a bird feeder station – provided by the scheme – and then visits once a week for up to an hour, chatting with the client and listening to their stories.

People being supported are often housebound and living with age-related conditions and illnesses such as dementia, sight-loss, mobility issues and bereavement, resulting in loneliness and social isolation.

They are referred to the charity from a range of organisations, including Adult Social Care and GPs. People can also refer themselves.

“A typical client is someone who lives alone, they might be living with sight loss, becoming more and more frail or have had a diagnosis of dementia. They want to maintain their independence and dignity. A lot of the people who are referred to us have refused help from traditional befriending services. They are hidden and isolated,” explains Diane.

“Feed the Birds works because the client gets to see the same volunteer every week and build that relationship while feeding the birds.

“It’s not about their health, their medication or their food – it’s about them as a person. They appreciate having a visit from someone who isn’t a health professional and who isn’t a family member who may have heard all their stories before. The volunteers are very generous with their time and will often stay longer than an hour,” she adds.

“We are growing and we will keep growing because, unfortunately, there is a massive demand and massive need because there are huge numbers of people who are lonely and isolated in Shropshire,” says Chair of Trustees Jonathan Mutch.

“If we had the resources and finances, we could support three or four times the number of people we currently do,” he adds.

“Our biggest challenge is funding so we are continuously looking at where we can get funding from.”

As well as being a trustee, Jonathan is also a volunteer who said the charity resonated with him.

“I’m interested in birds and take photographs of birds so it just seemed like an interesting way to give something back to the community,” he says.

Since Feed the Birds was founded, a similar scheme has been set up in Telford & Wrekin supported and funded by Telford & Wrekin Council.

There are five local groups for Feed the Birds volunteers, which allow people to get together to share experiences and advice. The groups are based in Bridgnorth, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Ellesmere. The charity is working in partnership with Lingen Davies and will be trialling Feed the Birds for people with a cancer diagnosis and receiving treatment, or living with and beyond cancer.

“This is a new area of work and we hope to evidence that contact with nature through feeding the birds can bring joy and comfort to people living with cancer,” explains Diane.

One of the charity’s supporters is Welsh ornithologist, nature observer and TV presenter Iolo Williams, who is passionate about the positive impact of nature on physical and mental health.

Describing himself as a “big fan” of the charity, he says feeding the birds is “fantastic for mental health”, adding: “It’s brilliant not just to talk but to watch and enjoy the birds as well.”

The charity is always looking for new volunteers, who will be DBS checked, trained and supported to undertake weekly home visits.

To find out more, see www.feedthebirds.org.uk/become-a-volunteer or email [email protected]

Anyone who would like to support the charity’s work, can visit www.feedthebirds.org.uk/donate