New tea party group for older people

To help support the newly founded group, the charity is urgently appealing for volunteers in the local community to help by sparing just a few hours each month to help with the running of local tea parties – and enjoy a cuppa and cake themselves!

The charity aims to relieve the loneliness of isolated older people who live alone, by organising monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties for small groups within local communities. 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.

To help kick-start the new group in Horsham, Contact the Elderly is looking for volunteer hosts to welcome the group into their homes for tea once or twice a year.

Contact the Elderly’s regional development officer, Julia Rivas, said: “We’re delighted to be opening a new group in Horsham and to ensure these tea parties are as successful as others held across the UK, we urgently need the support of the local community.

“Anyone who interested in becoming a host, this 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’d encourage anyone interested in giving something back to their community to please get in touch with us as soon as possible.”

Horsham residents interested in volunteering for Contact the Elderly twice a year as a host can contact Julia Rivas, regional development officer – Surrey, West and East Sussex on 01273 401569 or email [email protected]

Report and picture contributed by Contact the Elderly.