Helping the elderly not just for Christmas

It's a Thursday night in December, and it's the third and final Friends of the Elderly (FoE) Christmas party to be held at the charity's Bolton Street base in Dublin. This one is for those people who have reduced mobility. Hence there is a particular type of volunteer who is invaluable at this time of year: the driver.

Dave Gahan has volunteered to pick up Kay Rafferty (87) and Ita Courtney (82), from their respective homes in Finglas and Artane. He will bring them to the party and come back later to collect them. Without Gahan and people like him, most of the guests for tonight's party would have to stay at home.

This organisation couldn't exist without volunteers. There is only one paid employee, Niamh Macken, who is paid on a part-time basis. The rest of the time she works voluntarily, as do the 140 other core volunteers who keep FoE going: by organising a weekly club and social activities, regularly visiting people who live alone, and fund-raising. Macken reports happily that she does not have a problem finding volunteers.

Anyone can be lonely, no matter where you live, what age you are. All elderly people in Dublin are welcome at FoE, which is now 25 years old. "Our emphasis is on friendship," Macken stresses.

GAHAN DROPS THE three of us off at Bolton Street, where there is a small army of volunteers, including Macken, waiting to personally welcome the guests by name. Coats come off, and it's immediately clear that every guest is in their party best. It's also striking that the women outnumber men by at least three to one.

It's not easy to make a large, impersonal community-type hall look both festive and intimate, but FoE has managed this transformation. The place looks homely and cheerful, with pretty table settings, and there's an excited buzz about the room. The Bolton Street premises looks like what it is - as if it's run by people who genuinely care about the elderly men and women who come here regularly for company and entertainment.

At one table, Peter Crowe (85) has saved a place for his friend, Esther Josephine Heslinn (92), putting a gold cracker on the next chair. "Esther Josephine used to live next door to me in Dominick Street," he explains. "Many's the night I'd hear her falling and come in to pick her up. Or I'd help out by doing her shopping."

Heslinn now uses a wheelchair and is in full-time care in Norwood Nursing Home in Bray, Co Wicklow, where Crowe sometimes takes the Dart out to visit her. Although she has moved away, due to her long links with the Dublin 1 area FoE makes sure Heslinn is invited to its annual Christmas party, where she has a chance to see her old friends again. Without the goodwill of volunteer driver Michael Mannion, this reunion wouldn't be possible.

DINNER, A TRADITIONAL Christmas one of vegetable soup, turkey with all the trimmings and fruit cake, has been donated and prepared by Fáilte Ireland, with whom FoE has a partnership. The tables were set by transition year students from Scoil Chaitríona, Glasnevin, who are also due to play music later. The meal, with the option of either Guinness or wine, is served to the tables by a cross-section of volunteers, including Paul Munds (27). He is a regular visitor to Peter Carolan, who is in a nursing home. "It's very rewarding," he says. "I'm definitely going to keep doing it."

Sean McGuinness (87) is waiting with his saxophone to begin the entertainment. In his professional career he played with Dickie Rock, Peggy Dell and Sonny Knowles. He's been playing the sax every Wednesday for the last 12 years at FoE's weekly club, and he has also played at all its Christmas parties this year. "It's great! I got about 150 kisses last week," he grins.

"We have a lot of parties here - Halloween, St Patrick's Day, Easter, Valentine's - it's not just Christmas," Ellen Byrne (68) says.

"You'd hardly get a seat here on a Wednesday, the club's so popular," Elizabeth Keenan (75) stresses.

Maisie Flood (92) has been coming to FoE's Wednesday club for 21 years, where she has lots of friends. Flood lives alone, and when I ask if a volunteer comes to visit her, she shouts with merry laughter. "I'm too young for that!" she says, proving that age really can be a state of mind.