Youngsters are not alone in needing to hang out with others. But many elderly folk find their friends dying one by one. The Kavli Trust is supporting the Salvation Army’s efforts to encourage new contact between people.
The Christian organisation’s new Mentor+ programme puts fit pensioners who want to do something in touch with old people whose lives are coloured by loneliness and inactivity.
Going to football matches, visiting the cinema or taking country walks are good medicine. Being together with someone creates happiness, improves health, and gives meaning to life.
“We see that both visitor and visited get a lot out of doing something pleasant together,” says Heidi Milde, head of the Salvation Army’s care programme for the elderly and for Mentor+.
“I’ve personally seen what loneliness can do to people,” agrees Margareth Agasøster, who has been a mentor for just under six months. “If I can be the one person another human meets, it would be a pleasure for me.”
The Kavli Trust supports several other Salvation Army projects
The Solheimsviken Corps in Bergen, which works to give children and young people with difficult backgrounds good leisure opportunities.
The mobile shelter, part of the Army’s service for homeless people who have no opportunity to find a warm place at night.