About the Open Ear Foundation
Our Mission
The Open Ear Foundation is dedicated to relieving the loneliness, social isolation, and emotional distress of individuals in need throughout England and Wales. We do this by providing a completely free, confidential, and volunteer-run friendly listening and companionship service.
Why We Listen
Loneliness is formally recognised by the UK Government as a serious public health challenge. In England alone, an estimated 3.83 million people are chronically affected by it. Prolonged loneliness has consequences as serious as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
We believe that no one should have to face life’s quietest or most difficult moments alone. Whether someone is experiencing a difficult period such as bereavement, relationship breakdown, or job loss, or they simply feel persistently alone, we are here to provide genuine human interaction.
Our Approach
Our service is built on empathy, accessibility, and safe boundaries.
- Compassionate Companionship: We recruit, train, and coordinate compassionate volunteers who provide scheduled one-to-one listening sessions via telephone and Zoom video call.
- A Safe Space, Not A Clinic: Our service is entirely conversation-based and focused on human connection. These are not therapy or counselling sessions. We do not and will never diagnose, treat, or clinically intervene in any way.
- Professional Signposting: Our volunteers are trained to recognise when a caller may need professional support. When necessary, we sensitively direct individuals to appropriate professional and statutory services, such as the Samaritans (116 123), NHS 111, their local GP, or Mind.
- Completely Accessible: Our service is completely free of charge, requires no referral, no diagnosis, and no registration process. It is available to absolutely anyone who feels they would benefit from a friendly conversation.
Looking to the Future
While our volunteers currently connect with callers remotely via telephone and online platforms, we are actively growing. We are currently in the process of establishing a dedicated physical office space (pending) to serve as our central operational hub. This future space will allow us to better coordinate our volunteer training and expand our capacity to ensure everyone who needs a listening ear can find one.