A PENSIONER has set up a charity to reach out to elderly people after experiencing first-hand the devastating effects of isolation and the benefits of keeping active.
Mel Perry, of Lindsey House sheltered accommodation, set up the Ealing Elderly Residents Charity after seeing the difference he could make as secretary of his residents' association.
The 78-year-old worked with the association's then chairman Patrick Beirne to clean-up the 70-flat block from a 'dump' to a place people could be proud to call home. They set up coffee mornings, bingo, afternoon games and summer barbecues as well as organising trips to Eastboune and Kew Gardens and inviting other people from nearby sheltered accommodation.
He said: "The effects of isolation are unbelievable, it’s a killer. Some people don’t have any family. People go downwards. They sit in a chair opposite the television and have just two journeys to make each day: to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and the toilet. Sometimes they struggle to do that.
“By talking to people they pick themselves up. They start living like decent human beings.”
Mr Perry has now left the association to concentrate on his new charity which he runs with 10 other people, beginning by offering free well-being checks. Two pharmacists from nearby Harbs chemists visit sheltered housing and see walk-in patients for four hours a week,
Mr Perry hopes to expand the charity’s work and reach more pensioners across the borough, starting by offering free or cheap meals, social events, arts classes and day trips.
He said: “People are human beings, they should have a decent life. When they were working they paid their taxes to the government who said they would be helped but the government can’t do it all and neither can the council.
“People who are able to help, should help. Especially now with all the cutbacks.”
Anybody who can provide funding should call Mr Perry on 07581 109 846 or email Pauline Melson at paulinemelson@yahoo.co.uk
