Help us support older people to stay independent

Hi, we are Helen, Gill and Annariet. We are walking 200 miles of the UK Coast to Coast route to help this volunteer led charity to support older people manage difficult changes and stay independent.

We have just reached the half way mark, just 100 miles to go. Follow our journey in support, enjoy our stories and pictures as we walk from the West coast of Cumbria to the East coast of Yorkshire traversing mountains, lakes, hills and dales. So far we have battled through bogs, scrambled up mountains, slipped down waterlogged hillsides, waded through rivers of water and almost got blown away (literally) as we made our way along a high ridge as we left the Lake District for the Pennines. Keep walking with us and if you can, make a donation to help us on our way. It's a great way to give something back! And we will be so grateful.

It's good talk - How your donation will make a difference.

Age in Spain's Friendline service connects isolated older people with a trained volunteer for a regular weekly friendship phone call.

Started during COVID, completely free of charge and totally dependent on donations, it is so popular that we have a waiting list of people wanting to join.

It doesn't matter where we live, loneliness knows no geographical boundaries. And wherever we end up in later life, organisations like Age in Spain helps people manage the more difficult life changes.

It costs 1000 euros a year to cover the call costs to the Friendline members. Last year the volunteers made over 1500 regular calls. That's less than €1 a call to bring real happiness to make someone's day - and for many - their week - as that once a week chat is the difference between being lonely and feeling that they matter still. Many of the original Friendline members and the volunteers they are matched with are still going strong. The calls also help to identify when a member is struggling and our Info and Support services are alerted, so it helps to deal with worries and prevent a problem from becoming a crisis. It's good to talk, and your donation helps that happen. Thank you.

How else does Age in Spain help? Keeping families connected and supported - no matter where they are.

Wherever you spend your retirement years, planning ahead to manage possible dependency, ill health, loss of a partner or additional care costs - and getting it right - is a real challenge and who amongst us can truly say that we have it sorted? You have probably already been touched by unforseen illness, breakdown, loss of family and friends. Age in Spain does its bit to help. As well as providing information to help everyone who plans to move to Spain and those already here, it is there for people like you and me - family members from home who get that panic call and realise that mum or dad cannot manage. Wherever you live, trying to get the health and social care that your elderly parent needs, especially when they are far away and you have your own life and family responsibilities to manage - can be a nightmare. Age in Spain helps.

Its dedicated team of knowledgeable, caring volunteer Infoline assistants, who all help remotely from their own home, take calls on the Age in Spain Infoline from really stressed people who don't know where to start - usually because of a crisis or a problem that has been getting worse and worse and they haven't found anyone who can give the time to help access the right help and support.

In 2022 it gave intensive support to over 400 families from the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada and Spain to help their vulnerable older relatives. When you can't just jump on a plane to help your mum who has started acting strangely, or has been rushed to hospital and there is no-one at home to provide support, Age in Spain provides information so the family know what help is available and how to get it. It unlocks the doors to available public services and support which can be impossible to access from afar. It advocates for the older person when there is no-one else to speak up for them. It signposts to local charities in the locality, provides hands on support and when repatriation is the only way ahead, helps the family all the way with the planning, so that it runs as smoothly as possible.

Thank you for donating. Your money is helping to make all this happen.

Why support people who left home to live in Spain?

A regular and really important question, so let's answer it.

Do you live where you were born? Have you or family members moved for work, retirement, health, or to be near loved ones? Or to follow a dream?

People who move to another country, in this case Spain, are just the same. Each county, region or country brings its own challenges. The common issues for people moving to Spain, over and above the big life changes that affect us all, are language, bureaucracy, technology (many services need to you to be tech savvy to access them), isolation and when you live in a country that still depends on family to support you when times get tough - social care needs, and the increasing cost of living. So we all need help sometimes - and that's why it's important to support Age in Spain. Help us please. Thank you.