Friends For Life

This is how we do it!

• We help you make new friends and develop lasting friendships.
• We organise events that bring us all together within Future Directions and your local area.
• We can help you to be less isolated, lonely or bored.
• We make sure you have some great memories – as well as good friends.

How we started

In Spring 2018 the people we support at Future Directions told us that they wanted to make more friends and have lots of things to do.

A group of people supported by Future Directions looked at how we could make things better. The group decided to form The Friends for Life Group. The group came up with lots of ideas from meeting up monthly to having bigger events throughout the year where people can meet new people and see old friends.

Originally, we secured three years of funding through the National Lottery’s Big Lottery Fund, via the “Reaching Communities” programme, Our original grant was for £66,252.00, to support the project over those first years.  After the initial three‐year period, those whom we support requested and fed back how much the group had helped them in developing and maintaining friendships, supporting them to be part of interest groups and experiencing new things. Future Directions have continued to fund the project. This strategy has proven successful: the regular groups, experiences, and networking opportunities continue to grow stronger each year.

Life Stories

Another area that the Friends for Life project has supported is the Life Story Work. It is a deeply person-centred project led by Noel Fagen, alongside members of the individual’s support team, families, and others who know them well. Together, they help to record and reflect on significant experiences and memories that shape each person’s unique story. By exploring a person’s background and life history, we can better understand who they are today and how to provide truly individualised support that honours their identity and experiences. The Life Stories project also seeks to uncover and preserve the often hidden or forgotten histories of people who were institutionalised, sometimes from a very young age. This involves both researching historical records and engaging with family members to gather personal memories. The value of this work lies in seeing and supporting the whole person — not defined by a label or diagnosis, but recognised and respected for their humanity, individuality, and life journey.

What do we do?

We make your suggestions a reality. By gathering peoples feedback annually, we create a quarterly calendar of events reflecting peoples choices.

Events include:

• Day trips to Chester Zoo, Smithills Petting Farm, Christmas Markets, Seaside Trips, Chatsworth House and local attractions.
• Events at River Beal Cafe and Community Hub in Milnrow including Christmas Lunches, Easter Parties, Halloween Parties, Valentines Parties, World Cup parties. We host an event at least once a month. We also host our easy bakes at River Beal Cafe and Community Hub.
• We enjoy going to local shows, live music and theatre trips.
• A ‘Tea and Transport’ meet at least once every quarter and enjoy venues like Runway Airport Visitor Park, the East Lancashire Railway and Greater Manchester Museum of Transport.
• We also hold regular events including the community choir, Green Superhero’s arts and crafts workshops, litter picks, bowling trips, cinema days and eat and meets.

We listen to the people we support, always trying new activities to help connect and form friendships. We will help you to find local activities and events to go to and make friends.