Newark Age Concern's lifeline services for elderly limited by lack of volunteers

A charity that has supported older people in the Newark area for more than 50 years is in peril.

A lack of volunteers, especially committee members, has led to a drastic reduction in services provided by Newark Age Concern.

Lifeline services, including transport to medical appointments and home visits, have had to be scrapped.

“The people who served Newark and its attached villages during the last millennium have either died or are now too old to help us,” said chairman Pip Apps.

“Since I joined in 2000, some services have been abandoned, more often due to lack of demand than lack of volunteers, sometimes due to circumstances beyond our control, such as our bus drivers being declined insurance because of age.

“Our home visiting scheme thrived for nine years, with volunteers supporting mostly widows and widowers who lived alone, until the leaders had to retire.

“Some ideas, such as Phone Friends, which aimed to link older folk who could chat on the phone much as young people make friends they never meet via the internet, never really took off. We would, of course, revive the idea if there was an interest.

“Our Medical Appointments Transport Service, which, over a decade, gave lifts to hundreds of people with significant walking difficulties and no access to a car, or problems catching a bus, is now on the back burner for lack of volunteers.”

Newark Age Concern continues to provide a smaller selection of vital services to older people who need support, including through its helpline on 01636 701888, which is monitored by Mr Apps.

He said: “They phone me because they have a problem and they don’t know where to turn. I might not be able to solve the problem, but I can direct them to and put them in contact with someone who can help.”

Inquiries have included everything from grip rails to help with mobility at home, to applying for photo ID ahead of the May elections.

At present, the organisation has seven committee members, but soon that will drop to four as members plan to retire.

It urgently needs a new secretary, treasurer and newsletter subscriptions supervisor.

For now, Newark Age Concern continues to run the helpline, its quarterly free socials at Newark RAFA Club, which include tea or coffee and biscuits, bingo, a raffle, entertainment and a chance to meet friends and its monthly newsletter, available on subscription, or free from Newark Library, the Beaumond House shop, Ghent House and Vine Way community centres, Coddington and Farndon village halls, Holy Trinity Church, the Chauntry Group and the RAFA Club.

Without an increase in volunteers, it struggles to offer more services and to share the load of the services it currently operates.

Mr Apps added: “The services will continue until we decide we’ve had enough.

“It’s incredibly difficult to get volunteers now. People are busy with other things, the world has changed.

“Volunteering was what people did, when there was no other attractions like the TV and internet.”

He is also encouraging the families of people supported by the organisation over the years to help out and give some time back.

Volunteers can give as much or as little time as they can afford to help the organisation, and committee members meet only four times a year, keeping in touch over the phone or by email in between.

“We would also welcome volunteers of any age who would not wish to serve on the committee, bearing in mind that much research has shown that volunteering can improve wellbeing,” said Mr Apps.

“Certainly, I always feel a glow when a caller says our conversation has helped them, or takes the trouble to call back later to say that the information or advice I gave them proved useful.” Mr Apps.