Charities & VolunteeringVolunteeringAt HomeContact the Elderly calls for more volunteers Contact the Elderly calls for more volunteers
By Kate Morley - 17/10/2007
Contact the Elderly is celebrating over 40 years of helping isolated, elderly people enjoy a better social life - with a nation-wide appeal for more volunteers.
Contact the Elderly groups organise gatherings for frail, elderly people who live alone. One Sunday afternoon a month, volunteer drivers take elderly people on regular visits to hosts’ homes. Groups of between ten and sixteen people visit a different home every month and spend a few hours in the company of friends, old and new, providing vital contact and company to the escalating number of lonely, elderly people, who are simply too frail to go out.
The national charity was created by Trevor Lyttleton in 1965 and he remains the Founder Chairman.
Currently, there are in excess of 310 groups nationwide supporting some 2500 elderly people, but the charity recognizes that this number needs to increase to meet the needs of an increasingly elderly population.
To meet this growing need, Contact the Elderly is looking for more volunteers , especially as many of their existing tea party hosts are now getting to an age where they could almost join the groups as guests. They are looking for people of all ages who have empathy with the elderly and would like to help them. Volunteers need to be able to make a commitment in terms of time and energy; if they are car drivers they need have a few hours to spare once a month; and hosts need to be able to provide a warm welcome and afternoon tea for their guests once (or maybe twice) a year.
If you would like to help, or want more information about the organization, call Freephone 0800 716543 or visit their website by following the link below.