Contact the Elderly

Have you seen any of Contact the Elderly's posters? You know, the one that says "Take Harry and Sally to tea"? I have, for some time. And all the while I really wanted to sign up as a volunteer but just never got round to it. Until this year that is.

Because we are lucky enough to have a ground floor loo, we were able to sign up as volunteers to host a tea party twice a year for a group of elderly people who would otherwise be lonely and isolated. If you don't have the right facilities at home to host a party, you can also sign up as a volunteer driver, you'll then go and pick up an elderly person once a month and drive them to a tea party, hosted by someone like me.

All too easily nowadays, elderly people just get forgotten about. And yet, they hold some precious nuggets of history that will disappear when they do, stories and memories which deserve to be heard. When my grandmother passed away, my biggest regret was not to have asked her to tell me more of her stories or repeat the ones she told us again and again so we'd never forget them. Whenever an elderly relative goes to the other side, I'm of course very saddened by their departure but I also can't help but mourn that little bit of history that goes with them. Events too insignificant to make it into the history books yet to me (and them), they all matter, they all contribute to our collective memory in some way.

I've always wanted to give those elderly people who have no one left a bit a of a good time, put a smile on their face for a few hours maybe days afterwards. No one should grow old lonely. But most importantly, I want our daughter to grow up respecting her elders and appreciating their contribution to the world we live in. I think that was the key incentive for me to finally sign us up as volunteers.

For my husband, there was another incentive. As a keen baker, it gives him the opportunity to bake all sorts of treats without the disadvantage of piling on the pounds by having to eat it all ourselves. It's also a great way to get impartial feedback on his skills, elderly people aren't afraid to tell it like it is!

Here's the selection we had on offer at the latest tea party: lemon macaroons, red velvet cupcakes, Battenberg and boterkoek (a Dutch specialty).

The parties have been such fun, I wish we could host them more often. If you have the means or the time, I urge you to sign up as a volunteer, it's really worthwhile.