Contact the Elderly is a small UK-wide charity founded in 1965 whose
aim is to relieve the acute loneliness of isolated older people living alone
with limited support from family, friends and statutory services.
Mother Teresa once said
"Feeling alone and unwanted
is the world's greatest disease."
Each
month on a Sunday afternoon, volunteer drivers take one or two older people to
enjoy afternoon tea in a volunteer host’s family home and see the guests safely
home again.
Over the months
and years, on-going support and friendships grow between older guests and
volunteers, demonstrating valuable community involvement and providing a
discreet monitoring of the older people’s well-being.
We
offer our free service to those who:
·
are over 75
·
live isolated and lonely lives with
little or no contact with family and friends
·
cannot get out except with some
assistance
·
live in their own accommodation,
rather than care homes
·
are mobile enough to get to a car and
negotiate a few steps with a helping hand.
Our groups are
unique:
·
they take place once a month on a Sunday; when most
services for older people are not available –
a day traditionally remembered as the family day by
the older generation, and now thought of by many of them as the loneliest day
of the week
· they provide
an intergenerational group activity to much older people – 50% of our guests
are in their 80's and 25% are over 90 – a group frequently excluded from
mainstream provision for older people
·
groups are kept small so everyone can join in and
feel part of an intimate group of friends – this is especially important to
those with hearing loss or poor sight
"I'm on my own 24 hours a day.
You see no one; hear no one, except for the milkman. It's no exaggeration - the Contact Gatherings
are the one bright light in my life - it's fantastic. The volunteers are lovely personalities and
you are welcomed into people's homes and we sometimes sit in a nice
garden. You meet other elderly people;
have a chat and a laugh with them. It's
heaven." Chris, 89.
Contact the Elderly groups provide a low-intensity,
early-intervention role in the range of community services supporting older
people, complementing existing services and enabling isolated, older people to
retain optimum independence and remain at home for as long as possible and
participate in their communities once again.
Our groups make a real difference, and are
recognised as a model of good practice in meeting the needs of isolated, older
people.
2011 is our 40th anniversary
in Scotland and the need for our service is greater than ever –
we currently have 62 groups (some of which have been running for almost 40 years) and we welcome referrals of older people and
enquiries from people who would like to join our groups as volunteer drivers,
hosts or group co-ordinators.
For more information and contact
details for our Scotland Development Officers
please see our website www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk
or telephone our freephone number 0800
716543
