Community Activities
Elderly people feeling lonely is a growing issue across the country and Donna Young, Funeral Arranger at James & Thomas Funeral Directors in New Haw, feels really passionate about helping to combat this problem.
Wishing to do something completely selfless, Donna signed up to volunteer with Friends of the Elderly at the start of the year and was paired with 78 year old Rosemary, who lives in St John’s Woking, as part of the charities Be a Friend initiative.
Over the last few months Donna has paid a weekly visit to Rosemary, and the two have become the best of friends: “We spend the whole of our time together laughing and I can see the positive effect that my visits have.
“Rosemary has recently received the sad news that she has a life ending condition and I now feel that my friendship has become invaluable and is helping her come to terms with things.”
Donna also gets to meet her friend’s neighbours and carers and Rosemary helps to get them involved in James & Thomas’ fundraising activities.
As part of her involvement with the charity, Donna was invited to a High Tea on 6 June in celebration of National Volunteer Week and as a thank you from Friends of the Elderly. She said:
“The event was lovely, I got to meet lots of volunteers as well as service users and our branch kindly donated a hamper as a raffle prize.”
Donna has not long moved over to the New Haw branch and has already made inquiries about visiting and building a friendship with another elderly person in the community:
“My aim is to visit both Rosemary plus another, and hopefully join in with local clubs and events if my new friend is a bit more mobile.
“I strongly encourage others to get involved with volunteering as the rewards for an hour of your time are immeasurable.”
More information on volunteering with Friends of the Elderly can be found at: http://www.fote.org.uk/work-for-us/volunteer-with-us/