Tamworth Community Visitors Scheme: volunteers needed to visit lonely elderly in nursing homes

While their skin has wrinkled and their hair has grown grey; inside they still are.

Each elderly person has a story to tell, but not everyone has someone to listen.

That's where Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) volunteers step in.

Think of it like adopting-a-friend, except nobody is paid and everyone has something to gain, CVS coordinator Sue Dykes said.

"Some of the old people have wonderful stories to tell, they really have, some people think they have it hard now but if they heard some of the stories the oldies have to tell I think it would curl their hair," she said.

"The idea is that the resident has a special friend.

"There's this shut in, set apart from everyone isolation. So when you have people coming in and seeing them, whether it's family or my visitors, it changes their outlook on life."

The CVS is a federal government initiative to provide friendship to nursing home residents to help them overcome isolation.

Nursing homes or individuals can nominate themselves, but Ms Dykes said she already has so many people wanting to be visited and not enough volunteers.

Bill Nicholls has been a visitor for two decades, he's got the gift of the gab but the most important thing is to be a good listener.

A lot of the people he visits don't have any friends or family around.

"You only have to walk in and see the smile on their face," Mr Nicholls said.

"You don't go to talk about yourself, you get them to talk about their life, they might repeat themselves sometimes but that doesn't matter, you just sit and listen.

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"I've had dog trainers and doctors, one guy was a doctor and a prisoner of war in WWII, he would operate on the Germans in the prisoner war camps.

"You become attached to them."

To volunteer or for more information contact Sue Dykes on 0429 464 452.

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