Contact the Elderly

Contact the Elderly is a National Charity who have groups throughout the U.K with several of these in the North East, including a group in Gateshead. Free monthly tea parties for older people are supported by a network of volunteers, within local communities. The social gatherings bring individuals together and develop fulfilling friendships and support networks – and thereby help to reduce loneliness and isolation.  Contact the Elderly recruits volunteer drivers, hosts and group coordinators to help arrange the monthly tea parties for small groups of older people (up to eight guests per group).Once a 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. The group is warmly welcomed by a different host each month, but the charity’s drivers and older guests remain the same. This ensures that over the months and years, acquaintances turn into friends and loneliness is replaced by companionship. This provides an important social activity at a weekend, when older guests report they feel particularly lonely and isolated.