A GROUP of volunteers in Welshpool who help to tackle loneliness and isolation by taking elderly guests out to tea once a month is in danger of closing.

The group, which is part of the charity Contact the Elderly, has been running for more than 12 years.

It provides a lifeline of friendship to elderly people.

However, the local coordinator is stepping down and a new coordinator is desperately needed to keep the group running.

Kate Housley, the charity’s support officer in Wales, is looking for volunteers with good organisational skills to help run the group.

Kate said: “In Wales almost half a million people say they always or often feel lonely, many of these people are elderly, isolated, frail, living alone and unable to get out and about.

“The monthly teas offer a vital lifeline of friendship to the elderly guests and it would be a real loss if they had to stop.

“We are looking for a new volunteer coordinator to organise the group and arrange the monthly tea parties.”

The role involves contacting the volunteer drivers and guests once a month and confirming to the host the number people who will be attending the tea.

The charity organises monthly tea party events for small groups of older people, aged 75 and over.

Across Wales it supports more than 700 older people in 83 groups, but the charity has ambitions to increase this number and would love to open more groups in the area.

Groups are run by local volunteers: volunteer drivers collect older guests from their homes and accompany them to tea parties, while volunteer hosts hold the tea parties in their homes, the local volunteer organiser makes sure the run group runs smoothly.

If you’re interested in volunteering, or are an older person interested in attending a tea, then please contact Kate Housley.

Her details are:

Telephone: 029 2002 6211

Email: kate.housley@contact-the-elderly.org.uk