A simple cup of tea can be the cure to many problems
When Trevor Lyttleton MBE met an elderly lady who lived alone back in the early 1960’s, he organised for 12 lonely people to attend Hampton Court together for a chance to socialise – many years later, the charity Contact the Elderly has gone from strength to strength in helping over 75’s stay connected to friends and meet new ones.
The charity hosts monthly tea parties which are organised by volunteers on Sundays. They aim to make it as easy as possible for the elderly to attend and therefore provide transport to and from wherever the party is being hosted that month. The people who provide transport remain the same each month, allowing the guests to build a new friendship before they even arrive.
Speaking to Gwen Lightfoot, North West Development Officer for the charity, she explained more about her involvement:
“Each tea party is different for variety of reason – it depends on the host, the venue, what the group wants to do that day. Sometimes the group may have do specific things such as take along wedding photos or early childhood photos and reminisce. I have even been to a tea party where we had an impromptu sing song but what is consistent is that there is always lots of food and cups of tea, lots of chat and loads of laughter.
It is a wonderful feeling to come away from a tea party having seen how happy and cheerful the guests are, knowing you have made a difference to their lives and given them something to look forward to and to have hopefully made new friends. In some cases we have reconnected old acquaintances that have not seen each other for years.”
Gwen also believes that there are simple ways we can all help to combat loneliness and get involved in making sure nobody is on their own:
“We are a very fortunate organisation in that we have lots of people who want to volunteer with us, what we have problems with is reaching those isolated, lonely older people in our communities who do not get out like they used to and may not have regular visits from family and friends for what ever reason. Sometimes we are reluctant to make the first approach.
I would say the first thing you can do as an individual is always smile and say hello to people. If an individual knows of anyone in the road where they live who may be lonely, they could pop a Christmas card through their door and also pop in a Contact the Elderly leaflet to give them somewhere to turn.”
If know anyone who may benefit from attending these tea parties or would like to , visit their website: http://www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk