Age Concern seeks volunteers

It's Volunteer Awareness week and to make use of the promotion Age Concern Wanganui is on the lookout for more voluntary helpers.

Tracy Lynn, branch manager, said their current campaign was to boost numbers of meals-on-wheels drivers and its visiting service.

"We currently have around 55 visitors that visit about 60 people each week in Wanganui and in Marton. And we're part way through a radio campaign to recruit more visiting service volunteers and meals-on-wheels volunteers," Ms Lynn said.

Age Concern currently has about 200 volunteers drivers on its Wanganui roster.

As well as being a support service for its elder abuse and neglect service, the organisation's accredited visiting services was also a crime prevention service.

Ann Martin, Age Concern NZ's chief executive said senior citizens were increasingly victims in our society and the visitor service helped reduce and prevent these people from becoming victims of crime. "By having a regular visitor our seniors are not such a target for criminals who do not wish to be detected. And it means the elderly have a way to communicate any problems, unwanted attention and crime," she said.

She said more than 40,000 older New Zealanders were severely and chronically lonely.

Nearly half the accredited visitors are over 65 and collectively they make more than 70,000 visits each year. "Older people are absolutely essential to the functioning of many community organisations."