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Anne Sharp: This is a community drop-in for people over 50 in Boston to come and meet
other people and have a drink. We do light lunches and snacks and we sign post people
to different agencies as well as Aid UK, and find out what they like to do and try and
put events on what they would like. It’s a nice sociable place to be and where you
meeting other people, broadening your horizons and finding out about different things that
are available in the area.
Today we’ve got the massage lady IN, who is giving people free taster sessions and
then if they want, they can take up her services. We have the vitality exercise classes which
start up with seated exercises, we run those every Wednesday morning, and various times
we will have different events on showcases, the community policeman drops in, if anybody
wants to talk to him or we do all sorts of different things. Basically, we ask people
what they want as well and try and get what they want. It’s all staffed by volunteers.
I think they volunteer because they like to give something back. A lot of the ladies we’ve
got and the gentlemen, they’ve worked all their lives and now they’ve retired. They
don’t want to sit at home and do nothing, they want to feel like they can give something
back so they come and volunteer in that respect and also it gets them out of the house and
gives them something to do. So its mutually beneficial all round really.
Nora Sparling: My name is Nora and I'm a volunteer. My husband died last year and I was feeling
very down and I used to do things for Age Concern and I thought right, I’ll get back
there and that’s what I did and am pleased I did it. Well, it keeps me thinking about
other things other than sitting at home moping about what doesn’t go on. I mean there are
a lot places in Boston; you can go and have a cup of tea and a piece of cake. But it seems
the same people come, that haven’t known each other before; they get to know each other
each week and they say what we’ve done in a week, over the holidays, the children or
grandchildren. It’s just great.
Lilly Callon: Well, we meet every Wednesday about 10 of us and have a coffee and we also
plan on going on holidays together.
Alan Sykes: It’s cheap, friendly and cheap. That’s it them two words
Anne Sharp: If you sit in a cafe in Boston, you rushed out and things like that, where
if you spend 70p, you sit here chatting to people, just getting them out of the house
and it gives them something to look forward to for next week, see you next week, you know.
It’s nice, ain’t it, whereas otherwise they would be sat at home not seeing many
people.