Friends of the Elderly is an Irish volunteer based charity established in 1980 to bring friendship and companionship to older people living alone or who feel lonely. Since opening our doors we have been working to improve the lives our older members by offering emotional and social support. With a small staff and a dedicated crew of volunteers, we reach out in various ways to our older neighbours to provide companionship and friendship. Our goal is to enable our older members to maintain their independence while helping them feel connected to a larger community. We offer volunteers the opportunity to join our older members in friendship and celebration of life. Our focus is on a practical approach to dealing with loneliness and social isolation, alleviating its effects by providing social engagement programmes such as Home Visitation, Friendly Call Service, Social Club and organising Day Trips or Social Events. In the last year we were privileged to touch the lives of over 600 older women and men, all with the help of over 300 volunteers. Friends of the Elderly receives no government funding: all funds are raised from individual donors, volunteer and corporate help and we want to thank everyone for their support.