What it means to be a volunteer at the Red Cross of Pesaro

Volunteering at the Red Cross of Pesaro means committing to others and caring about them. Here, our priority is to take care of elderly people with Alzheimer and to give them an opportunity to socialize and gain back some of their youth.

As a volunteer, your main activity is to help the staff to take care of the elderly on the way from their home to a social centre where they can meet and interact with other people who are in the same situation. Once in this centre, you are asked to stay with them and take part in some of their activities: you can do some gymnastic with them, play with them, share a little snack and tea with them, dance and sing, etc. What is important is to give them an atmosphere where they feel safe; that is the reason why we try to give them some kind of routine: it is always the same activities and most of the time the same people too. Also, no matter how extreme the Alzheimer is, the people in charge give them a feeling to be accepted as they are.

When it comes to the dancing and singing part, you have the chance to do it, especially during a shift called ASA. This service consists in going to an elderly house, a different one every week. You have the possibility to dance waltz or other kinds of dances with the people and to sing karaoke with or in front of them. The point of all of this is to entertain them and to bring some joy and happiness into their lives, to get them out of their bad thoughts.

One of the other services offered by the Red Cross is to go to one specific elderly house and once there, to help the people in wheelchair to do some physical exercise by walking and stretch their legs. Obviously, this is not only about stretching their legs but it is also about interacting with young people and having an activity that is beneficial for their physical and mental health.

Even though the Red Cross volunteers have other activities and participate to other services, those are the main ones, as the organization wants their volunteers to focus on our elders’ well-being. Their goal is to encourage young volunteers, local and European, to care more about the elderly people and to create a connection between the young generation and the old generation.

Maxime