We are three keen Camino walkers, Graham, John and David, who supported Age in Spain by walking a route on the the 1,400-kilometer Camino from Almeria to Santiago de Compostela. We helped to raise money to provide vital services for older English speakers who live in Spain.

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Getting older, wherever we live, brings change and challenge! Keeping active and contributing to our communities helps us to give back and ensure maximum independence in later life. But sometimes, everyone needs a helping hand - this is where we and Age in Spain step in!

I make  a Friendline call every week to a lovely lady in Tenerife - we’ve never met, but I know all about her life and family, and she knows the same about me! We chat about all sorts, from Airfryer recipes to TV dramas. She is housebound, so I feel that our regular calls break up the monotony of the four walls. She’s always got a tale to tell me, and I enjoy making her laugh with some yarns of  my own. It’s quite special to make a friendship across the miles, without ever having met.

 

On the Costa Blanca there are many English speakers living in the region, and the concentration of non-Spanish residents and holiday home owners provides its own support network through clubs, groups and charity events. However, we hear of people who moved to small inland villages many years ago, where this network does not exist, so they need to call on services such as ours when they need help or guidance.

 

The first question I’m usually asked about Age in Spain is ‘Where is your shop ?’. We don't have a physical presence and whilst the other local charities do an amazing job of raising money and supporting people in need, we fill inthe gaps through the Infoline and our website, particularly for those people living away from a large community.  

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I do worry about the ageing English-speaking population here, particularly those who may have lost a partner who they previously relied on, or those settled in remote areas without local help. I’m proud to be part of an organisation that can provide  support and guidance across the whole of Spain and the Islands. 

Why do I volunteer? I guess it is in my blood. My grandmother and my mum were huge community women, and my Dad gave his time on the weekends.

 

I volunteered during the Duke of Edinburgh’s scheme, chasing around a lot of very active cub scouts in my village. A year later I went to volunteer in Africa with the then Operation Raleigh (now Raleigh International) working on anti poaching programmes with Black rhinos, and also on health care projects building a local health clinic.

 

When I started nursing I then gave my weekends in conservation projects due to my love of getting out of London and my seeming love of standing in ponds pulling weeds/ counting birds/ cutting back non-native plants in areas of beauty etc. As a nurse and health visitor I was also drawn to helping people and through my life have worked on local projects, volunteered at food banks, participated in food runs with the homeless. As my kids grew up, we volunteered at school and in the community. I always worked with a great crowd and had a great laugh, and we raised a lot of money for  causes.

 

Moving to Spain, volunteering has helped me to meet new people and - the biggest plus - improve my language skills! I have volunteered on a research project or two, at the school, and now I volunteer at a local cultural association as a photographer and have now a lovely community around me who love what I do. I really enjoy giving them something back for the support and community they give me. My photos are used in publicity and in huge pictures on the association’s walls.