About Contact the Elderly - Scotland
40th Anniversary of Contact the Elderly
Scottish Groups
Contact Information for Contact the Elderly - Scotland
Event Calendar
Mail Form
|
Mission Statement
 Contact the Elderly aims to relieve the loneliness of frail, isolated elderly people, who live alone with little or no support from family, friends or social services
We encourage volunteers to find enjoyment and fulfilment in achieving our purpose, by providing a unique and valuable nationwide service of regular companionship for lonely elderly people.
|
Join ‘Contact’ and make some old friends!
Contact the Elderly in Scotland
There are more than 150,000 people aged over 75 who live alone in Scotland.
Contact the Elderly is a small UK wide charity whose aim is to relieve the acute loneliness and isolation of frail, very elderly people living alone with inadequate or limited support from family, friends and statutory services.
Our service delivery is entirely dependant upon volunteers, and each month our volunteer drivers use their cars to take very elderly members to enjoy afternoon tea in a volunteer host’s family home, where everyone enjoys warm hospitality and friendship. At the end of the afternoon the volunteers see our guests safely home again.
Over the months and years, on-going support and friendships grow between elderly guests and volunteers, demonstrating valuable community involvement and providing a discreet monitoring of their well-being.
We now have more than 60 local groups in Scotland that provide a regular outing to over 500 isolated, lonely, elderly people living in the Highlands and Central Scotland, bringing vital social contact.
Our groups operate on a Sunday afternoon - a day when few other services are available and which has been identified as the loneliest day of the week. Contact the Elderly’s innovative, simple yet effective act of friendship provides a lifeline to lonely elderly people.
Drivers, Hosts and Volunteer Co-ordinators are needed for new groups throughout Scotland.
If you would like to know more please contact:
Executive Officer Scotland
Valerie Crookston 01505 874412
Muirshiel, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, PA13 4SG
Email: val.crookston@contact-the-elderly.org.uk
East Development Officer Scotland
Joan Grant 01575 573370
9 Whiteside, Kirriemuir, Angus, DD8 4HZ
Email: joan.grant@contact-the-elderly.org.uk
Higlands Development Officer
Alan Michael 01463 798008
28 Culloden Road, Balloch, Inverness, IV2 7HQ
Email: alan.michael@contact-the-elderly.org.uk
West Development Officer
Gill McGregor 01357 521369
Inglenook Cottage, 81 Kirk Street, Strathaven, ML10 6BA
Email: gill.mcgregor@contact-the-elderly.org.uk
|
How to join - Brochure
 | Are you an elderly person living alone? Would you like to make friends and enjoy a regular monthly social occasion? The why not join a Contact the Elderly local group?
Please click on the link below to download a brochure. |
|
Volunteer for Contact the Elderly - Brochure
A little time, a lot of fun - A lasting difference!
Please click on the link below to download a brochure. |
What our organisation does
Diminishing mobility, often exacerbated by physical and sensory disability, reduces elderly people’s social contact, bringing acute isolation and loneliness.
Through our volunteer-network we offer a simple yet effective act of friendship, providing a lifeline to very elderly people, as each month volunteer drivers take otherwise-housebound elderly guests to the home of volunteer hosts, where all enjoy the warmth of friendship for a few hours. In this way Contact the Elderly in Scotland contributes uniquely to the range of services supporting older people, enabling them to retain optimum independence for as long as possible. Whilst we work closely with numerous statutory & voluntary organisations concerned with the elderly, our service remains unique:-
· it is aimed at an age group frequently excluded from mainstream provision for elderly people; most services for the elderly are aimed at the 'younger' older person - I.e. those up to 75, whilst 50% of our members are in their 80's & 25% are over 90.
· we provide an intergenerational group activity;
· we operate at weekends when most services for elderly people are not available;
· we offer private hospitality often within a family environment - a rare alternative to the institutional care usually available to frail, elderly people;
· our volunteers' simple act of friendship requires a limited time commitment, yet makes a significant difference to the isolated elderly people befriended. Volunteers facilitate additional, informal monitoring of the elderly persons welfare as a result of the relationships that they develop with the elderly people.
Main activities
· Volunteer co-ordinators organise regular group meetings & outings, co-ordinating drivers, hosts & older guests
· Drivers provide an outing once a month, collecting the same one or two elderly people
· Hosts prepare & provide a home-made afternoon tea, hospitality & entertainment
Our service brings about positive changes for our elderly guests
All these changes come about through the Contact the Elderly service delivery, which is provided by volunteers organised into small groups throughout Scotland. The service is aimed at isolated very elderly people living alone. Involvement with our groups leads to:-
· A reduction in loneliness
· Increased self-confidence to leave the house & meet people
· A break away from the four walls
· An increase in social inclusion
· Something to look forward to on a regular basis
· Improved physical & mental health
· An increase in self-esteem
· Renewed links with the active community
· Relationships between volunteers & elderly members develop beyond the regular monthly outings, providing an invisible support network & facilitating additional, informal monitoring of the elderly persons welfare
· Volunteers gain from extending their circle of friends, appreciate a greater & more worthwhile involvement in society & an insight into the lives of those whose lives have spanned the last 75-100 years (& more) of change
· In some cases, respite for carers
|
This page has been visited  times. |
