Social Clubs
During 1981, Caritas Malta encouraged volunteers to set up 2 Social Clubs for the Elderly: one in Slime (St Gregory's Parish) and one in St Julian's. To date the Social Clubs number 48 all over Malta.

Caritas Social Clubs
The aim is to provide a meeting place for older persons where they continue growing through organising social, cultural, educational and religious activities. They are thus given the opportunity to remain active in their community with a special focus on older persons' needs. The co-ordination of these Caritas Social Clubs is facilitated through a Central Committee, which sees to the overall organisation.

Good Neighbour Scheme
In 1982, discussions took place in St. Dominic's Parish, Valletta regarding a pilot project of the Good Neighbour Scheme with the aim of meeting the needs of those parishioners living alone.

Through this Scheme Caritas hopes to enable more lonely older persons to remain in their own community - a milieu they identify with and are attached to, instead of having to move to a residential home.

The main features of the Good Neighbour Scheme are: visitation, practical help at the parish level to those frail older persons and people living alone who need assistance through visiting, practical help and regular check-calls

Home Visitors
The aim of this group is be of moral, psychological and/or physical help and support to older persons by visiting them regularly. Targeted people are older persons who live on their own, are housebound and who have no familial contacts.

Visits to Residential Homes
The residential homes volunteers visit different residential homes for the elderly in groups of five or six. They support residents by listening to them and keeping them company. They also organelle activities within the home, with and for the residents themselves. In general their motto is 'making a home out of a house', by facilitating interpersonal relationships between residents themselves and between residents and staff. This is promotes intra-personal reflection, development and growth.

ILAC
In September 1987, two volunteers spent 10 days at the Independent Living Advice Centre (London) in order to familiarise themselves with the various aids and gadgets that make the daily living of the older persons easier. To respond to the elder's needs, Caritas opened an ILAC outlet to give advice and sell aids imported through a local agent.

View our new catalogue online with pictures and descriptions in Maltese and English.

'La Vie Montante' spirituality group
This group, which targets older people, meets once a month and themes tackled are always strictly spiritual.

Intergenerational Activities
Intergenerational Fora

The organisation of Intergenerational Fora is a new project within HelpAge. The aim is to facilitate communication and help establish a link between the older persons and students of the same area. The format is a half-day forum including workshops, games and musical activities. Each forum assumes a character of its own as the resources of the participants themselves are exploited. This Forum complements the Prevention Education Awareness 'Focus' project in schools (Form One), which covers "The Elderly". The Community Outreach Unit (Diaconia) is also involved in the forum in order to help strengthen the ties between the parish and Caritas Malta, and as a means of follow-up on the forum. The forum is facilitated and animated by volunteers.

The first forum was held in December 2000. The 80 participants were from the Zejtun Caritas Social Club, the Zejtun Residential Home for the elderly and the Carlo Diacono Junior Lyceum Zejtun. Six activities are planned to take place during the scholastic year 2001. They will be organise with areas linked to the schools following the 'Focus' project.