Contact the Elderly is urgently appealing for volunteers living in Bath to spare a few hours each month to help with the running of local tea parties, and enjoy a cuppa and a cake themselves.
Contact the Elderly are the only charity solely dedicated to tackling loneliness and isolation among older people.
The charity aims to relieve the acute loneliness of isolated older people, aged 75 and above, who live alone, by organising monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties for small groups within local communities – providing a regular and vital friendship link every month.
Each older guest is collected from their home by a volunteer driver, and is taken to a volunteer host’s home, where they join a small group for tea, chat and companionship.
Several of the fabulous local groups are in need of more help to keep going: volunteer drivers who are able to collect older guests from their homes and accompany them to the gathering each month, volunteer hosts to welcome the group into their homes for tea once or twice a year and, in the Keynsham & Saltford area, a volunteer coordinator to help organise the monthly tea parties.
Contact the Elderly’s Local Development Officer, Helen Ker-Bridges, said: “The charity is committed to offering a lifeline of friendship to the oldest and loneliest people, but our hopes of extending this lifeline to even more older people in this are currently fading due to a real shortage of volunteers in the area.
“Anyone who can spare a couple of hours one Sunday a month, has a driving licence, a car and a capacity for drinking tea, is eligible!
“And for those interested in becoming a host, it would just involve a couple of hours once or twice a year.
“It’s not a big commitment, and our volunteers genuinely get as much out of the experience as our older guests, so I’m calling for anyone who is interested in giving something back to their community to please get in touch with me as soon as possible.”
If you are interested in volunteering for Contact the Elderly, get in touch with Helen Ker-Bridges on 01225 873812 or email [email protected].
