Visiting Lonely/Elderly People

froosh69

Hi,

Given the amount of elderly people in the dublin area that are housebound and have practically no human contact, I was wondering if there is an agency that organizes volunteers to go and visit them for a cup of tea and a chat?
As a student, I dont have an awful lot of time to spare, but one evening a week would be fine. Could anyone give any information please?
Thanks

Thomas_B

froosh69 wrote: »

I was wondering if there is an agency that organizes volunteers to go and visit them for a cup of tea and a chat?

Hi there,

Fair play to you for thinking of one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

There are a few groups providing this sort of service, the group I recommend you get in touch with is CareLocal: http://carelocal.ie/

They match volunteers with elderly people living on their own for weekly visits.

They're a small committed organisation, have very low overheads, and they do insist on references and an induction procedure to protect their clients.

I have no direct connection with them, but I met the staff members a few times and was impressed by their passion and professionalism.

earcandi

I'd really really love to do something like this! I visitied that website and it looks fantastic, does anybody know of something like this in Galway?

star gazer

Volunteer.ie try the older people/active retired section. Doesn't look good for what you are looking for in Galway.
Irish Wheelchair Association run home visits Western area
Friends of the Elderly

Age Action

Age Action runs a Care and Repair programme which provides home visits and a small-scale DIY service to older people around Dublin, as well as more than 20 towns and cities around the country. Sponsored by Irish Life, it is a hugely successful programme which enables people to volunteer their time and skills, and helps keep older people living independently in their own homes. The need for volunteers varies according to the time of the year and the part of the country you are in, but drop an email to careandrepairdublin@ageaction.ie and they should be able to tell you more.
Eamon, Age Action.

amz5

To the poster asking about Galway - I saw an article recently in the Galway Advertiser about a group that were delivering meals to elderly people. It was probably Age Action as mentioned by a poster here, but either way there is definitely something like that in Galway