The short answer
- Try the free routes before you buy anythingVolunteer befriending, telephone friendship and a GP referral cost nothing, and one phone call starts any of them.
- Free help comes at a time the volunteer can manageA charity introduces your parent to somebody who has time to give. That is worth a great deal, and it is not a set hour on a day of your choosing.
- A volunteer visit gives company rather than careWashing, dressing, prompting medication and helping somebody move safely sit outside what a befriending scheme does.
- Pay where you need a set time, personal care, driving or the same faceCarers offering companionship on PrimeCarers charge £15 to £20 an hour, with our fee included, and you choose who comes and when.
Figures for carers on PrimeCarers are current as of September 2026, with our fee included. Attendance Allowance amounts are the 2026/27 rates published by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Free help first
The company that already exists near your parent, at no charge
Before you look at hourly rates, there is a set of services built for exactly this problem, and they are free. They connect your parent to their own community rather than to somebody you have paid to be there.
A volunteer who visits
Usually weekly
A volunteer who telephones
Weekly, or any time
A community or faith group
Varies by area
A day centre or a lunch club
Set days
A link worker through the GP
NHS referral
The council information service
A legal duty
The national organisations worth knowing by name are Age UK, Re-engage, The Silver Line, Royal Voluntary Service and Marmalade Trust. Each works differently and what they run changes from year to year and from town to town, so ring them or read their own pages rather than taking a description from us. NHS England explains how social prescribing works, and the duty on councils to give information and advice is in section 4 of the Care Act 2014.
If loneliness is what you are trying to solve rather than a task around the house, how do you help a lonely elderly person covers building a week with no empty days out of family, free services and paid help together. This page sits under companionship care and is narrower: which route to use, and when it is worth paying.
The six routes
What each one costs, how you get it, and how long it takes to start
The six routes answer the same question in different ways, so they are set out on the same four headings. None of this is a ranking. The question is which one fits the week your parent has and the help they will accept.
A volunteer befriender
No chargeA charity introduces your parent to a volunteer who comes to the house regularly, usually once a week, for conversation and company.
- What it costs
- Nothing. The visitor gives their time, so there is no hourly rate and no invoice.
- How you get it
- Ring a national charity or its branch near your parent, or ask the council information and advice service which schemes cover their postcode.
- How soon it starts
- Normally a wait, because a volunteer has to be free near enough to visit. No charity publishes a national waiting time, so ask where the list stands when you ring.
- What it will not cover
- Washing, dressing, medication, meals or helping somebody move safely. The scheme cannot promise the same volunteer indefinitely either, because volunteers move house and take jobs.
A telephone friendship service
No chargeA regular call at an agreed time from a volunteer who rings the same person each week, or a helpline your parent can ring themselves when an evening is long.
- What it costs
- Nothing. Telephone friendship is run on volunteers, and the national helplines for older people are freephone numbers.
- How you get it
- You or your parent can ring the charity directly. A helpline needs no referral and no assessment at all.
- How soon it starts
- A helpline answers the same evening. A matched weekly call takes longer, because somebody has to be found who can commit to that hour.
- What it will not cover
- Nobody is in the room. A call cannot cook a meal, notice that the heating has been off for two days or help after a fall, and it is hard work for anyone whose speech or hearing has been affected.
A community or faith group visitor
No chargeA congregation, residents association or local club sends somebody round, or collects your parent for something that was happening anyway.
- What it costs
- Nothing for the visit itself. Where there is a meal or a coach involved, that part is paid for separately.
- How you get it
- Ring the place directly, or ask somebody who already goes. If your parent belonged somewhere years ago, knock on that door first.
- How soon it starts
- It depends on what exists near your parent and whether anybody there has time. A small group can move faster than a national charity, or not at all.
- What it will not cover
- It is not a rota you can hold anybody to, and whether a visitor has had background checks depends on the group, so ask.
A day centre or a lunch club
Usually chargedYour parent goes out to where other people are, for a few hours or a full day, with a meal and something organised to do.
- What it costs
- A day rate set locally. Where the council arranges the place, what your parent pays comes out of a financial assessment of their income and savings rather than a published price list.
- How you get it
- Ask the council for a care needs assessment, which is free and open to anybody, or ring a centre and ask whether it takes bookings from families.
- How soon it starts
- An assessment takes time to arrange and the council then has to find a place. Ringing a centre yourself is quicker where one has room.
- What it will not cover
- It runs on set days and hours. Your parent has to be well enough to leave the house and willing to sit among people they do not know yet, and getting there is a separate problem.
Social prescribing through the GP
No chargeThe GP practice refers your parent to a link worker, whose job is to find out what they would enjoy and connect them to groups and activities near them.
- What it costs
- Nothing. The link worker is part of the NHS team at the practice, and the referral works like any other.
- How you get it
- Ask at the surgery. A GP, a practice nurse or another member of the primary care team can refer, and local charities and social care services can too.
- How soon it starts
- You wait for an appointment with the link worker rather than for a volunteer to become free, so the first conversation can come early.
- What it will not cover
- The link worker finds things and helps your parent through the door the first time. They do not come back week after week, and can only point at what exists locally.
A paid companion
Paid forA self-employed carer you choose and book yourself, coming at an hour you set, for company and the light jobs around it.
- What it costs
- £15 to £20 an hour on PrimeCarers, most commonly about £18, with our fee included. A care agency charges £28 to £35 an hour for an hourly visit and picks the person for you.
- How you get it
- Search carers near your parent, read their profiles and rates, and agree the visits with whoever you choose.
- How soon it starts
- There is no list to wait on. The start date is whatever you and the carer agree, and you can begin with one visit a week.
- What it will not cover
- It costs money, and it is not nursing. PrimeCarers is an introductory service rather than a care agency, so the arrangement sits between your family and the carer.
Two things are worth drawing out of that. The first is the wait. A befriending scheme is matching your parent with a person who has to live near enough and be free at the right sort of time, and no charity publishes a national waiting time, so ring and ask where their list stands. The second is what happens after the match. A volunteer is giving their time, so a family that has built a week around a Tuesday visit can find it stops when the volunteer takes a job. If a day centre is the route that appeals, day centre or a day carer at home sets the two against each other.
Who to ring
Four calls to make, and what to say
None of these commits you to anything and none costs money. You can make all four in an afternoon, before you spend anything at all.
- 1
Ask the GP surgery about a social prescribing link worker
First callRing the practice and say that your mother or father is alone most of the week and ask whether they can be referred to a link worker. A GP, a practice nurse or another member of the team can make the referral, and local charities and social care services can refer somebody too. - 2
Ring a befriending charity, national or local
Same daySay where your parent lives, how their week looks and what you are hoping for: a visit, a phone call, or a group they could be taken to. Ask how long the wait is there, and put their name down even if it is long, because a list costs nothing. - 3
Ask the council for a care needs assessment
Free, and anybody can askThe NHS is clear that the needs assessment is free and anyone can ask for one. It is how a day centre place, help at home and any council money towards care get started. If your parent does not qualify, the council should still give free advice about where to get help locally. - 4
Ask the people your parent already knows
Alongside the restA neighbour who would knock on a Thursday, a former colleague, an old bowls club. This is slower and less tidy than a charity, and it lasts longest, because it is built on people who already care about your parent.
Where free help stops
What a volunteer visit does not cover
A volunteer befriender is a good thing, and it is also a particular thing with edges to it. Knowing where those edges are stops a family leaning on the service for something it was never built to carry.
What a befriending visit is built for
- Sitting and talking, with no list of jobs to get through
- A regular point of contact in a week with little else in it
- A cup of tea, a game of cards, a look through old photographs
- Sometimes a short walk, or company on the way to a group
- Noticing, over the weeks, that something has changed at home
What it is not built for
- Washing, showering, dressing, or any help in the bathroom
- Giving or prompting medication, or anything to do with a pill box
- Lifting, moving somebody, or helping after a fall
- A set time and day that a family can build the week around
- Cover for a fortnight while you are away, or a visit at short notice
None of that is a criticism of befriending schemes. They are careful about the boundary for good reasons, and a volunteer who starts helping somebody out of the bath is exposed in a way nobody intended. It does mean that if your parent cannot manage the bathroom in the morning, company on a Tuesday afternoon has not solved the problem you have.
The free routes cannot promise the same person for long either, and continuity matters more than families expect where there is memory loss, because somebody with dementia can take weeks to settle with a new face. Can a lack of social interaction cause dementia covers what the research does and does not show.
When to pay
What a paid companion does that a volunteer cannot
Paying somebody buys what a volunteer scheme cannot offer: a time of your choosing, a defined job that can include personal care and driving, and somebody who keeps coming because it is their work.
| What the free routes can do | What a paid companion can do | |
|---|---|---|
| Somebody has to be there at 9am every Tuesday | A matched volunteer may settle into a regular slot, agreed with them rather than set by you. | You agree the day and the hour with the carer before the first visit, and it is in the booking. |
| There is a shower, dressing or the bathroom to help with | Outside what a befriending scheme does, and volunteers are asked not to. | A carer offering personal care alongside company does both in the same visit. |
| Medication has to be prompted at the same time each day | Not part of the visit. | Ordinary work for a carer, and you agree what it involves with them directly. |
| Your parent needs driving to the garden centre or a hospital appointment | Some schemes have volunteer drivers, and it depends on what runs locally. | You can search for a carer who drives and agree the arrangement in advance. |
| You want the same face every week for the next year | The scheme will try, and it depends on that volunteer staying. | You choose the person, and the arrangement continues while it suits both of you. |
| You are away for a fortnight and somebody has to cover it | Not what a befriending visit is for. | You can book longer visits for the fortnight, or look at respite cover. |
Somebody has to be there at 9am every Tuesday
- What the free routes can do
- A matched volunteer may settle into a regular slot, agreed with them rather than set by you.
- What a paid companion can do
- You agree the day and the hour with the carer before the first visit, and it is in the booking.
There is a shower, dressing or the bathroom to help with
- What the free routes can do
- Outside what a befriending scheme does, and volunteers are asked not to.
- What a paid companion can do
- A carer offering personal care alongside company does both in the same visit.
Medication has to be prompted at the same time each day
- What the free routes can do
- Not part of the visit.
- What a paid companion can do
- Ordinary work for a carer, and you agree what it involves with them directly.
Your parent needs driving to the garden centre or a hospital appointment
- What the free routes can do
- Some schemes have volunteer drivers, and it depends on what runs locally.
- What a paid companion can do
- You can search for a carer who drives and agree the arrangement in advance.
You want the same face every week for the next year
- What the free routes can do
- The scheme will try, and it depends on that volunteer staying.
- What a paid companion can do
- You choose the person, and the arrangement continues while it suits both of you.
You are away for a fortnight and somebody has to cover it
- What the free routes can do
- Not what a befriending visit is for.
- What a paid companion can do
- You can book longer visits for the fortnight, or look at respite cover.
A paid companion does not replace the free routes. Most of the left-hand column carries on while a carer covers the part it cannot reach.
The terms are worth reading before you book rather than after. A visit the family cancels is payable in full, apart from unplanned hospitalisation, illness or another reason the carer agrees to. Either side can end an hourly arrangement on 48 hours notice. Bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the carer's normal rate and Christmas Day at twice, and mileage is chargeable only where you agreed it in advance in writing. PrimeCarers charges nothing to cancel, and does not set the terms between you and the carer.
When you reach the point of wanting a named person on a set day, you can search for carers near you and compare their rates without signing up to anything. What carers do with clients on a companionship visit is worth reading first so you know what to ask for, and what a companion visit looks like, hour by hour walks through one from the doorstep to the door closing. Where the point of the visit is getting your parent out of the house, finding a carer who drives narrows the search.
Paying for it
Ways to pay for a companion other than your parent's savings
Some of the cost can come from a benefit or a council budget rather than from savings. Check all four before you decide what you can afford.
If the hours climb, company every day is a different proposition from a few hours a week, and at that point read about a live-in companion, what they do and where to find them. If your parent is resisting the idea of anybody coming in, which is usually about pride rather than preference, how do you get someone to accept care is the page to read next.
Questions
Questions families ask about befriending and paid company
Yes. A befriending scheme is run on volunteers who give their time, so there is no hourly rate and no bill. The NHS describes these schemes as relying on volunteers for one to one contact as a telephone buddy, a visitor or a driver. A day centre or lunch club is the exception among the free routes, because there is normally a charge.
There is usually a wait, and no charity publishes a national waiting time, so the only reliable answer is the one you get when you ring. It depends on whether a volunteer lives near enough to your parent and is free at the right sort of time. It costs nothing to be on a list, so put their name down while you look at the other routes.
No. Befriending is company: conversation, a cup of tea, sometimes a short walk or a hand with a hobby. Washing, dressing, medication and any lifting sit outside it, and schemes ask volunteers not to do them because a volunteer is neither trained nor insured for that work. If those are the things your parent needs, a paid carer is the route, and the befriending visit can still happen alongside it.
A befriender is a volunteer introduced by a charity, at no cost, coming at a time that suits them, for company only. A companion carer is a self-employed carer you choose and pay, coming at a time you agree, who can also help with light jobs, prompt medication, cook a meal or drive your parent somewhere. Carers offering companionship on PrimeCarers charge £15 to £20 an hour with our fee included. How much does a companion carer cost has the full range.
Yes, and it is a sensible way to build a week. A volunteer visit on one afternoon, a telephone call on another and a paid carer for the morning she needs help getting washed and dressed covers three days for a fraction of what paying for all three would cost. Tell each of them what the others are doing, so nobody arranges a visit for the same hour.
Ask at his GP surgery. A GP, a practice nurse or another member of the primary care team can refer him to a social prescribing link worker, and local charities and social care services can refer somebody too. NHS England describes social prescribing as connecting people to activities, groups and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing. The link worker helps him get started rather than visiting week after week.
Under the contract between a client and a carer on PrimeCarers, a visit the client cancels is payable in full, apart from unplanned hospitalisation, illness, or another reason agreed between the client and the carer. Either side can end an hourly arrangement by giving 48 hours notice, and bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the carer's normal rate. PrimeCarers charges nothing itself for a cancellation and does not set the terms between you and the carer. The client and carer contract is the full document.