1st Anniversary of the new-born association in Romania

2016 has been the first year of the new-born association in Romania called Jamais Seul – Amis des Personnes Agées . A year with a lot of questions, risks, doubts, but at the same time with a lot of hopes and motivation to reach many lonely elderly in Romania.
The organisation succeeded in bringing hope, friendship and a much needed helping hand to more than 1000 elderly in 5 communities in Romania with the help of 280 volunteers. They clocked in more than 11.800 hours (491 days) of volunteering in the benefit of elderly, within their homes, at retirement homes or during outings and group celebrations.
Volunteers made 2228 visits at home, offered practical help for the elderly with difficulty to leave their house more than 320 times, 174 elderly received material or financial support and together they lived 1380 of instants of recreation and laughter in retirement homes.
“ We tried to bring joy in the houses of lonely elderly, to restore dignity and make them feel useful. Our actions would not have been possible without the help of les petits freres des Pauvres of France, our donors, sponsors, supporters and volunteers, whom we would like to thank. Their involvement and support gave us the confidence to believe in the change in behavior of our society towards the elderly, a change we crave for and that will continue to represent our constant concern. ” (Anca Zavadescu – president of the association)
“ In 2017 we want to continue our activities in the 5 communities we are present and to discover ways in which we can support elderly in other towns as well. We aim to ease the loneliness of 1100 elderly, to involve 300 volunteers in more than 12.000 hours of volunteering. We will continue our visits at the home of lonely elderly and the activities that ease loneliness in retirement homes, the support for Easter and Christmas, as well as our summer holidays. We will also continue our knitting workshops (with the Grandma’s scarf campaign – in partnership with Amics de Gent Gran in Barcelona) and celebrate the International Day of the Elderly with our Flowers for the Soul campaign. ” (Anca Iosub, directrice)