Active and In Touch (Befriending) – volunteers visit and help people who have become isolated or out of touch with the community around them and support them in getting involved with groups or activities.

Active and In Touch (Social Groups) – run weekly for people to come together and socialise through activities, special events or a chat over a cup of tea:

Mondays, 11am – 1pm at the Bridge Cafe, 43 Selwood Road, Frome BA11 3BS (please call Gwen first on 07375 336 733 to ensure there is space) or

Tuesdays, 11am – 1pm First Tuesday each month held at the Cornerhouse, Christchurch St East, Frome, BA11 1QA
or every other Tuesday at The Blue House, The Bridge, Frome, BA11 2AP

Age UK and their partner charity The Silver Line offer a free telephone friendship services so you can enjoy chatting with someone over the phone, all from the comfort of your own home. Whether you’d like to speak to someone every week, or just want to talk when the need strikes, call the number below to find out more information.

Boccia is an inclusive game for disabled people, older people and their carers. It is similar to bowls but easier to play. Hosted by Key-Ring and run by Nova Sport & Coaching.  Every other Thursday 1:30pm-2:30pm at the Cheese and Grain, Market Yard, Justice Lane, Frome BA11 1BE.

This very popular community cafe is running at the Shepton Mallet branch: every Tuesday 12–13:15

The Ammerdown Centre have set up a free monthly social group. This safe and welcoming environment is for individuals to come and talk to others and enjoy afternoon tea and cake in their beautiful facility.

2pm – 4pm the last Monday of the month.

The Ammerdown Centre, Ammerdown Park, Radstock, Somerset BA3 5SW

For more information or to let them know you would like to attend please ring the number below.

Dogs for Health is a charity that aims to help reduce loneliness and isolation by visiting people in their own homes, hospitals and Care or Residential homes with well trained therapy dogs and their owners. This is a free service to those who would benefit from time spent stroking and cuddling one of our therapy dogs. Visits are tailored to meet the need of the client, ideal for people who used to own a dog but no longer can. Covering Frome and surrounding villages.

Our motto being “Laughter is the BEST” medicine. This club is for over 55s with various activities and presentations, meals and talks. Meets monthly at the village hall on last Tuesday of the month in Evercreech: 2pm – 4pm.

Call the number below for further information.

The Health Hub is available to all farming or agricultural workers and their families, no matter where you live. Come and see us for: Health and wellbeing checks, advice on lifestyle and concerns affecting your emotional wellbeing. Guidance towards any support you may require in the future No appointments necessary, just call in and speak to one of our volunteers. Supported by Somerset NHS and The Farming Community Network.

2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Frome Livestock Market Standerwick, Frome, BA11 2QB

Offers pastoral support and practical help to anyone in the farming community (currently or retired) when they are facing challenges and tough times. All volunteers have a farming background and are trained to listen confidentially and without judgement, for as long as it takes to resolve difficult issues

These social days run from Frome Assembly Rooms on Mondays and Thursdays:
Monday 11am – 3.30pm
Thursdays 11am – 1.30pm
The cost is £8 for the day. This includes a hot lunch at 12.30pm, with pudding and a cup of tea after. There is always entertainment on Monday afternoon too.

For more information or to come along please ring Pete Dayman-Johns: 07974 702642 or call the number below.

Are you unable to get to a library yourself? Would you like to have library books brought to you at your home?

The Somerset Home Library Service brings the library to you. The service is open to people of all ages.  When you contact us, we will arrange for a volunteer to visit you. You can discuss what you like to read and the best times to visit you, usually on fortnightly or monthly basis. The volunteer will go to the library to choose your books and deliver them to you.
Volunteers can also support you in accessing free e-Books, eAudiobooks & e-Magazines. They can provide you with audio books and DVDs (there is normally a charge for these items). Our volunteers have been DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked and have given references.

Please note, Covid restrictions are currently in place for visits.

MAKE:SHED provides a regular open workshop space for people aged 18-35 to work on practical and creative projects, individually or with others. We meet on Thursdays, 6-9 pm in the Remakery at the Welsh Mill Hub. You’ll get to use tools and equipment, learn, share and develop skills, meet new people and have support to sell what you make. It’s free. Everyone can get involved in fundraising, but it’s not required. Follow us: www.facebook.com/MAKESHEDfrome

Every Tuesday from 9am-12pm, Wednesday 9am-12pm, Thursday 9am-12pm 2pm-5pm. at The Woodbin, Somerset Care and Repair, Charlton Trading Estate, Charlton Road  BA4 5QE. Membership is a donation of £2.50 per week and there is an annual registration fee of £15. Come along and make friends, learn a new skill or bring a skill with you to share.

*IMPORTANT – Please contact in advance due to reduced capacity*

Men’s Shed provides a venue for men to talk and connect with others while participating in group or individual projects. It provides opportunities for friendship and socialising in a safe environment while at the same time providing the space, expertise and facilities for men to pursue hobbies, crafts and other creative activities. Please contact us learn more and find out when they are next meeting.

Frome Men’s shed: Mondays and Thursdays 9am-1pm

Welshmill Hub, Park Hill Drive, Frome, BA11 2LE

Drop in and stay as long as you like, bring your own mug for a hot drink. Annual fee is £10, with a session donation of £4.

Our remote friendship community has proved to be a huge success.  New fabulous friendships have grown and blossomed, providing entertainment and companionship across Mendip from the safety of your own home.  It is incredible how invigorating a good old chatter and catch up can be to brighten up your day, and not to mention an enjoyable way to pass the time.

Our mission is to enable people to live later life well, so if you are over 55 and would like to join in the fun or find out more, please get in touch with MHA Communities Mendip District.  We will be really excited to hear from you and invite you to join our club.

MHA Membership Form

Somerset Mobile Libraries provide a service to rural parts of the county where there is no static library. Wheelchair access is available on all vehicles, WRVS volunteers or the Good Neighbour Scheme can deliver. The mobile library driver will help you get on and off the vehicle. To use this service you just need to be a member of Somerset Libraries, membership is free.

See the website or call for the complete list of routes/stops and the dates/times of each of visit for the current year.

Support for self-employed mums to tackle loneliness and isolation as well as provide business and self-care support. We are based in Frome and meet monthly in school hours to enable self employed mums to attend.

Meetings are currently online but hope to move to face to face soon. See our Facebook page or email for more information.

Health Connections Mendip run a postcard project in Frome and the surrounding area. Anyone can get involved. If you’d like to receive a free regular postcard from one of our writers do get in touch.

If you’d like to become a writer we have a induction process and a project worker to support our writers.

Re-engage has been providing social contact for older people for over 50 years. This free service provide monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties and regular friendly phone chats. The tea parties are a lifeline of friendship for lonely people over 75.

The service currently runs in Frome, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Wells and Rode and you can refer someone, with their permission, on the website HERE.

If you would like to refer anyone to our Call Companions use our online form HERE and we will then be in touch with the older person directly.

Free monthly meet-up for refugees and hosts. Incudes free hot drinks, free lunch and activities for children as well as local information and support.

Time: 12pm – 5pm

Location: Ammerdown Centre, Radstock, BA3 5SW

For more information about the next date or for help with transport call the number below.

Wells Refugee Welcome Hub offers support to Ukrainian guests and their sponsors in Wells, Shepton Mallet, Glastonbury, Street and the surrounding villages.

The Hub is a central information point. It offers language tuition, support and signposting and a safe meeting place for refugees and their families.

Opening hours: Mondays between 10:00 am-1:00pm for the Hub Drop in and Fridays 10:30-11:30 for the Conversation Café.

Portway Annexe, Portway, Wells, BA5 Q2F.

Root Connections is a community ‘not for profit’ market garden to improve mental & physical health & wellbeing. based at Stratton on the Fosse, BA3 4QF. We’re open on a Tues & Fri morning from 10am until 1pm, on a Friday we share lunch together. We make gardening accessible to everyone – from all walks of life. We have different areas within the garden to work on and enjoy. A warm welcome awaits anyone who would like to get involved in the garden & join a group of like minded volunteers

Adult Wellbeing Group that meets every Wednesday 10.30-14.30. Based in Frome at Vallis Veg (a farm near to Vallis Vale – nearest postcode BA11 3EJ).

Free. Activities include: Nature connection activities, nature inspired crafts, mindfulness, drinking tea, chatting, singing, campfire cooking, gardening and more…

‘Volunteer Saturdays’, at Vallis Veg every 2nd & 4th Saturday of each month from midday until 3pm. Volunteers are required to help and maintain the forest school site and allotments. Nearest postcode to the site is BA11 3EA.

We run weekly Shared Reading groups at the following libraries, bringing people together through great literature to talk, laugh and share. Just drop in and enjoy listening to a story or poem – there is no pressure to talk or read.

Contact you local library for more information or give us a call on the number below.

When: Every Friday

Shepton Mallet – 11.00 – 12.30pm
Wells – 2.00 – 3.30pm

Shepton Together is a new adult friendship service set up especially for the community of Shepton Mallet.  We offer a befriending service which connects and help local people during and after Covid-19.

Our mission and purpose is to combat isolation and loneliness, and to reengage people who have become less connected with their community.  But most of all to provide our members with something fun and to look forward to.

We invite you to volunteer with Shepton Together, where together we will find enjoyment and fulfillment in helping to make a real difference to the lives of people living in our community.

If you fancy joining in the fun or wish to find out more, please get in touch by calling our friendly team.

Do you know someone with sight loss who would benefit from specialist support? Somerset Sight runs a volunteer visiting and befriending service across the county which is available to anyone with sight loss. If you know someone who would benefit from a befriender or may need other practical or emotional help, such as magnifiers lighting or talking books, please get in touch.

The Somerset Wellbeing and Recovery College offers opportunities to learn about mental health and recovery by providing a unique curriculum designed to increase your knowledge, understanding and skills to equip you with the tools to live a meaningful, productive and fulfilling life.

Our students are people with lived experience of mental health difficulties who wish to learn to live well, for their family and friends, and the professionals who support them. We do not take referrals from clinicians and our students do not have to be using mental health services to access any of our courses.

All our courses are free and are listed on our website. They take place across Somerset.

Come along and say hello to a Health Connector. It’s a chance to meet outside face-to-face and find out what help and support is available in the community, as well as meeting others. Look for the Talking Bench flag.

Frome: Every Wednesday from 10.30-11:00 outside Frome Library.

Shepton Mallet: Every Friday from 10:30-11:00 outside Shepton Mallet Library.

Talking cafes are a place to meet new people, make friends and chat to a community signposter about activities, support groups and services in your community.

Frome: Mondays 10am – 11.30am Cheese and Grain, Market Yd, Justice Ln, Frome BA11 1BE

Frome: Thursday 1pm – 2.30pm, Coffee#1, 15-16 Westway Centre, Frome BA11 1BS

Coleford: Monday 1pm – 2.30pm, The Hub, Old School, Church Street, Coleford BA3 5NQ

Shepton Mallet: Wednesday 10am – 12pm, The Art Bank, 13 High St, Shepton Mallet BA4 5AD

Street: Wednesday 10am – 12pm, Fondo lounge at 107, High Street, Street, BA16 0EY

Wells: Thursday 10am – 12pm, Bishop’s Palace, Wells BA5 2PD

Glastonbury: Mondays 10am – 12pm, St John Baptist’s Church, High Street, Glastonbury, BA6 9DR

Mells: Last Thursday of every month, 11am-12pm, April-September, The Walled Garden Cafe, 5 Rectory Cottages, Mells, Frome , Somerset, BA11 3PN

Evercreech: Thursday 2.30pm – 4pm, Evercreech Village Hall, Victoria Lane, Evercrecch, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6JP

Bringing together people with an interest in technology, to make useful things for the community of Frome.

A mix of online and in-person sessions held at The Remakery, The Welshmill Hub, Frome. Annual membership is £5, with a small charge for in-person sessions.

Concessions available.  See the website for details.

The Help Hub has been set up to support individuals who find themselves with limited contact due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus. They are a group of trained therapists who aim to provide a free service for as many people as possible by listening, supporting and helping where they can. They are offering 20 minute telephone or video calls. Book an appointment by clicking on the URL below.

The Reader is a free weekly reading group. Grab a cuppa, be with people and share stories.

Online – Tuesday afternoons (2.00-3.30pm) via zoom – for more information email Alison below.  Every other week it alternates with a wellbeing session.

Phone lines are open Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm. You can also call this number if you are interested in volunteering for them.

The Royal British Legion is helping the Armed Forces community in the Frome area. Providing a range of Branch Community Support to veterans and any serving personnel as well as their families, Including: Telephone buddies, Home and Hospital visiting, Bereavement support, Legion Awareness Events and local information.  If you’re not sure where to turn, please get in touch.

The Silver Line is a confidential, free, national helpline for older people. Open 24 hours a day and every day of the year. They can offer information, friendship and advice. They can signpost callers to the many, varied groups and services that exist in Mendip.

People who would benefit from extra social contact can now self-refer for free ‘Check In and Chat’ phone calls. The volunteers provide short-term telephone support to people in need of a friendly phone call and encouragement to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

Check In and Chat: An individual requires a telephone chat and some encouragement to reduce loneliness and improve their wellbeing (these will be from a number of different volunteers).

Check In and Chat Plus: An individual requires regular telephone calls and encouragement to reduce loneliness and improve their wellbeing and these should be from the same volunteer because of significant vulnerabilities such as dementia. (3 calls per week for 4 weeks from a volunteer).

Grow with Us: Open to a mixed age group with light and gentle gardening and growing activities adaptive to physical challenges. The session has a strong socialising component to it with tea and cake. Held on a Friday 10am-12noon.

Wells Community Shed (WCS) at South Horrington in Somerset opened in October 2018 and has grown its membership by welcoming people who want companionship and to learn new skills at multiple or one-off sessions.

The Shed is on the site of the Heads Up charity in Upper Breach, although it is a separate building and organisation.

The WCS is providing a valuable and useful service to the local community.  It enables people to connect, converse and enjoy being together, working on activities where previous experience is utilised and/or new skills are gained. It helps to reduce loneliness and isolation, getting people active and having fun.  Tea and biscuits are also provided!

One of the main activities in the Shed is woodworking, with members making items such as planters, coat racks, shelves, shoe racks, bird boxes and hedgehog boxes. Woodturning has become popular with members, with intricate bowls and candle holders being made. All items are sold to help subsidise the Shed running costs.

To register an interest in attending, contact Steve Whitby on the number below.

Frome WI meet once monthly and enjoy a varied and interesting programme of monthly meetings. For their 10th anniversary year, annual membership of Frome WI is reduced by £10 to £34 (April 2022 to March 2023) or you can attend as a visitor for £4 per meeting. All attendees pay a donation for refreshments.

Meeting: 3rd Monday of the month at 7.30pm at Frome Cricket Club, 30A Rodden Rd, Frome BA11 2AH.

For the most up-to-date schedule of events pleas visit their Facebook page.

20 volunteers in the village. They offer shopping, dog walking, phone chats or distance chats, etc. for people in Witham Friary or just outside.

The Frome Women’s Shed is on Monday mornings from 9am to 1pm Welshmill in Parkhill Drive, Frome, BA11 2LE. Like the Men’s Shed, we are there to connect people, in a safe and supportive environment. We meet to make and mend things together, learn new skills, make friends, work on our own projects and on projects that benefit the community.

The annual membership charge is £10, and when attending a Shed session, the fee is £4, (or as much of that amount as can be managed).

Social group on a Wednesday evening at the Church Hall, Coleford from 6.30pm to 8pm.

Variety of activities including gentle exercise, singing, greeting card making, quizzes etc!

£3.50 a session, contact Amanda Ruby through Facebook or on 07488 258257.