JOY FOR THE ELDERLY

JOY FOR THE ELDERLY

Some people live in extreme poverty. We would like to bring a little bit of joy to the elderly people living in severe poverty. There are people who desperately need food, medical help or medication and we need your help to do that.

The Diakonia and Mission Foundation is an NGO founded in 2016 by professors from the University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. The Foundation’s main objectives are increasing charity and volunteer work which involve students, graduate students, young people and academic staff. The main focus in their work in the last year was elderly people. Over the past year, the foundation team and the volunteers have helped many elderly people in need of food and essentials. Repeatedly, they had to provide almost life-saving urgent assistance to people in need. To be able to provide their help they need a little bit of funding. The money they need is for transport (when needed to visit the GP, to go to the hospitals etc), for food and medication for the elderly in need in the Veliko Turnovo region.

The Diakonia and Mission Foundation also built a very good relation with the residents of the “Veneta Boteva” Nursing Home in Veliko Tarnovo. The staff and the volunteers are working together with the elderly residents, traveling together to see new places and make new friends (the foundation provides free travel tours for the elderly), and participating in art and craft workshops together . All of these activities in the last year made a tremendous impact on the residents’ lives. The joy that young people bring to the elderly has a very positive effect on their physical and mental health.

Old people need to feel the joy of human interaction. Moving into a care home can be challenging. Suddenly you are living with new people in a new place and that drastic change can make you feel anxious, depressed, and useless. Sometimes you feel like an object of care, not as a person. Because of this it is very important to get the nursing home residents involved in as many activities as possible. It can help with their integration in the community and it will help them to build bonds with other residents.

The foundation developed links with local organizations and businesses providing different kind of help but they still need financial support for some of the planned activities.There is no question that art plays a very important role in all our lives and touches us at so many different levels. We all have memories associated with a certain song or love a certain artist’s work, or love the effect the theatre has on us. Working closely with the co-ordinator, volunteers and residents together they came to the conclusion that visiting a play or a pantomime, or a concert will bring a lot of joy to the elderly. However they need a little help to be able to realise their ideas and improve the wellbeing of the care home residents so they can get the most enjoyment out of their lives.

The amount we needed is £500. £300 for the elderly in need in the Veliko Turnovo area (travel expenses, food, and medication) and £200 for organizing a theatre visit for the residents of “Veneta Boteva” nursing home.

Here you can see the foundation website and Facebook page:

https://diakoniamission.org/

https://www.facebook.com/diakoniaandmission/

Please help if you can! If you can’t pass the information to someone you think would be interested to help.

Every little helps and every penny counts!

THANK YOU