“I’m so glad I’ve joined. I really look forward to my Sunday afternoons”

A retired nurse, Bunty is fortunate enough to have two children and three grandchildren, as well as seven great-grandchildren and three greatgreat- grandchildren. But even with all this family, living alone can mean days passing by with little company, so when her friend told her about the local Contact the Elderly group she had joined, Bunty was keen to follow suit. “I’m so glad I’ve joined. I really look forward to my Sunday afternoons. When else would you get chauffeured from your door to the door of a wonderful hostess for a delicious afternoon tea and then chauffeured back home?”

Bunty, like many guests, has formed a close friendship with her driver, Richard, describing him as “a gem”. Drivers not only pick up guests for the tea parties, they accompany them for the afternoon, which quickly puts everyone at ease with each other. Speaking about the tea parties themselves, Bunty says, “The afternoons always fly by. There are discussions and people tell stories from their childhood. As soon as someone brings up a new subject it brings a memory to your mind and the conversation is once again overflowing. “Although we all live in the same village, it’s not that easy to see one another as we’re not as able to get out and about any more, so this is a great chance to do just that.”

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