ABSTRACT
In the Shropshire model, a Compassionate Community is one in which citizens support frail and vulnerable people to remain active members of the community, with the aim of reducing social isolation and, in doing so, averting 'crisis' to which such isolation often reportedly leads. Severn Hospice is the provider of specialist palliative care services to adults in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and North Powys. As such it straddles the border between the West Midlands of England and Mid-Wales. The structure of the Compassionate Communities model depends upon the available time and capacities of volunteers, varies considerably from community to community. Griffin (2010) recommends the commissioning of services that establish peer support for people at risk of social isolation, and good neighbour schemes that encourage neighbours to engage proactively with people at risk. One's experience of addressing the often invisible need of social disconnection and loneliness in Shropshire shows how even dear old Fred still needs friends.
