AS people get older, it can be more difficult to keep up with the outside world.
That is why the Chronicle has pledged to feature individuals and organisations which are willing to help.
This week, we are featuring Hoyland Community Choir and Contact the Elderly.
n The Hoyland Community Choir is a place for music and friendship. You don’t have to any experience, and you don’t even have to be a good singer. It meets every Friday from 10am to noon at Milton Hall in Elsecar, and is led by musician Paul Newman.
There is an average of 20 members every week, and the group sings popular songs by The Beatles, Johnny Cash and Abba.
Treasurer Denise Simpkin said: “I have suffered from mental health problems in the past and I love the company and the camaraderie. They are a fantastic group of people. We are all here to help and support each other, and I don’t know what I’d do without it. We’re getting better and better.”
Joan Holbrook, chairman of the choir, added: “I love the choir because I have panic attacks and it makes me quite poorly. But I write poetry and I’m interested in anything to do with the theatre. It’s wonderful having a professional musician lead us.”
Contact 741546.
n Contact the Elderly is a national charity with two Barnsley groups. Volunteers organise Sunday afternoon tea parties monthly, for small groups of older people aged 75 and over, who live alone.
Co-ordinator Kathleen Grigg, 73, of Wentworth Way, Dodworth, said: “We usually have six members, and pick people up and drop them off. But two of our members have died so there are two vacancies.
“All our members are over 90 and have difficulty getting about on their own. I’ve got five volunteer drivers and 12 hostesses who put on a party. But we need more drivers. We can take more people if we’ve got more drivers and more hostesses. We’d also like a another co-ordinator to set up another group in Barnsley.”
Members need to be able to manage two steps and get in a car.
E-mail kathgrigg2001@yahoo.co.uk
