LONELINESS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM (The Society of St. Vincent de Paul reports loneliness as the biggest individual problem faced by older people living alone; the Central Statistics Office reports between 2001 and 2010, the number of older people living alone rose from 141,500 to 161,600.) RETURN TO OZ (Margaret Ryan is in her eighties [...]

WILLIE BERMINGHAM – A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME (21 years after his death a look back at the ground-breaking work of the founder of ALONE) HAVE YOU ANY NEWS? (an appeal for documents to include in our archive) YOUR STORY (do you have stories or anecdotes about ALONE or people touched by our work? [...]

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS MEET KEVIN FROM COMMUNITY RESPONSE (a new worker to ensure a dedicated crisis intervention response) BORD GÁIS ASSISTANCE SCHEME (€200,000 distributed to around 1,000 households) COMMUNITY COMMITMENT (thanks to JC Deceaux ALONE gets billboard space) SOCIAL LIFE (just how does our popular social programme get organised?) CHRISTMAS COMES BUT TWICE A YEAR [...]

Contents; GIVE JUST ONE HOUR THIS CHRISTMAS! ALONE SCHOOLS PRESENTATIONS (an update on the programme one year on) MEET A VOLUNTEER (Sinead Morrisey of of our newer volunteers writes about her experience) DON’T LEAVE IT TO OTHERS (our Christmas campaign) NEW VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP GROUP (news on an initiative to empower and support volunteers) COLD WEATHER [...]

Contents; INCREASING DEMAND FOR SERVICES LOVE IN THE FAST LANE (Joan de Frenay’s revealing memoir of life in 1940′s Dublin) MAKING A DIFFERENCE (ALONE wins VISPA award) VOLUNTEER CORE TRAINING (the first training programme finishes) VOICES OF EXPERIENCE (two long term volunteers reflect on changes in ALONE) WILLIE BERMINGHAM MEDAL 2010 (the historic joint award [...]

Contents; WELCOME! DUNNE DEAL (Tom Dunne is the new ALONE Ambassador) THE ALONE SUMMER HOLIDAY 2010 (51 older people travelled to Ennis, Co.Clare) MEET A VOLUNTEER (a part time volunteer supports the visitation service) ALONE’S HOUSING SUPPORT TEAM (interview with two of the ALONE staff) PHOTOCALL! POSITIVE AGEING (send us your photos!) VOLUNTEER HANDBOOK (a [...]

WELCOME! SCHOOLS PRESENTATION PROGRAMME (what it is and how it works) MEET A VOLUNTEER (a befriending volunteer shares his views) READERS CONTRIBUTIONS (contact us at newsletter@alone.ie ) NEW WEBSITE TEXT – SOCIAL NETWORKING ACTIVITY COMING SOON WINTER TIPS FOR READERS (staying warm and safe) Download the November 2009 Newsletter here