{"id":295,"date":"2021-10-12T10:16:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T09:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=295"},"modified":"2023-12-19T15:36:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T15:36:46","slug":"my-sense-buddy-made-me-happy-during-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/my-sense-buddy-made-me-happy-during-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"My Sense Buddy made me happy during the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rebecca volunteers as a Sense Buddy. Here’s how baking and cooking brought her and her buddy, Trisha-Mae, closer together during some tough times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Buddy
Buddy pair Rebecca and Trisha Mae smiling at the camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trisha-Mae and I started Buddying just before the pandemic in January 2020. I had been looking for somewhere to a volunteer for a while. After a bit of searching, I came across Sense\u2019s Buddying service. It ticked all of the boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense\u2019s Buddying service matches anyone with disabilities to a volunteer. You meet online once a week with someone who has shared interests, sense of humour and personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned about Trisha-Mae’s love of baking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the news about Covid-19 started coming in thick and fast, we took a relaxing stroll to get to know each other. It wasn\u2019t long before I found out about Trisha-Mae\u2019s love of cooking and baking. I didn\u2019t realise at the time, but as we all went into lockdown, that information would prove useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, the Buddying sessions became virtual \u2013 we did them over video call. It was a big adjustment and at first we spent time just talking. Then, Trisha-Mae mentioned her love of cooking again. We decided to try some cooking sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cooked everything from quesadillas to apple crumble<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t long until Trisha-Mae started taking the lead. She\u2019d research recipes and talk me through them. We cooked everything from quesadillas to apple crumbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Trisha Mae shows her freshly baked cake to Rebecca on a Zoom call.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t have much experience of baking cakes but Trisha-Mae was really patient and helped me get my skills up. At the end of each session, we would have a competition to see who could wash up the fastest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We gained each other’s trust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These cooking sessions were so important for both us during an incredibly difficult time. We would laugh and chat with one another. We gained each other\u2019s trust, all through a screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooking and baking brought Trisha-Mae and I closer together. I bought her an apron with her name on it for Christmas to show my appreciation for all of the new recipes she\u2019d taught me. Those moments in between pre-heating the oven and eating a slice of cake were some of the happiest I had during the pandemic. All thanks to my buddy, Trisha-Mae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling inspired or also craving some baking? Check out our delicious fundraising event Sensational Tea Party<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rebecca volunteers as a Sense Buddy. Here’s how baking and cooking brought her and her buddy, Trisha-Mae, closer together during some tough times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[147],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-rebecca"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}