North Shrewsbury Friendly Neighbours was set up, initially, as a joint project with Citizens Advice Shropshire funded by the Home Office Limited Partnership Fund, under the auspices of Voluntary Action Shrewsbury.  Julie was appointed as the Co-ordinator and set off with pen and paper to find somewhere to work from, she then started to recruit volunteers, and from that the scheme began to grow.  The scheme was initially for a three year period ending on 31st March 2005.  Over this period, the scheme offered a valuable and much needed service to the more vulnerable and older members of the community of North Shrewsbury.  Many people benefited greatly from our willingness and ability to respond rapidly to requests for assistance, often within hours and sometimes immediately in a crisis.  They rely upon Friendly Neighbours for the support and help that they are not able to access elsewhere.

When the initial project came to an end on 31st March 2005, we did not want to disappoint expectations by ceasing to exist now that we were well established. Then Julie and the volunteers took the decision to become an independent charity in order to continue with this valuable, and valued service. New premises were sought and we moved to Castlefields, from then we have gone from strength to strength, with the numbers of clients and volunteers increasing dramatically. This year is our 10th Anniversary Year which we celebrate on the 3rd of April.