Have you a few hours of spare time every now and again? Are you the sort of person who would like to help others – perhaps just sitting, chatting to someone for an hour or two?

Just in Orihuela Costa alone there are many hundreds of people who are desperately lonely. Perhaps they have lost a loved one, or just come out of hospital following an operation and cannot go out, or are living in an urbanisation surrounded by holiday lets, empty for weeks on end.

Just popping in for an hour or two could make all the difference for these people, and this is where you could assist. Help at Home Costa Blanca are always getting requests from people desperate for a little help or just simply company.

A visit from you could become the highlight of the week for a person who doesn’t see a soul from one week to the next. The charity has more people needing help than it has volunteers at present.

Would you like to become a volunteer? You don’t have to be qualified at anything, except perhaps in the skill of making a cup of tea, doing some shopping or maybe tidying up.

You will not be required to do any nursing, as people acting as nurses in Spain have to be registered and qualified. However, the charity would like to hear from suitably qualified people to be assessors, visiting clients and assessing their needs. They would then be referred to a suitable organisation or caring charity, of which here are several in this area.

Help at Home Costa Blanca run a highly successful charity shop, based in the Playa Flamenca Commercial Centre. Looking more like a retail shop than a charity shop, its takings are breaking all records. Maybe you would like to be a volunteer in the shop?

In addition the charity holds fund-raising events in he local area. last week it supported the Emerald Isle’s birthday party and raised 1,100 euros to go towards an appeal for a special needs vehicle to help take people to hospitals or doctors surgeries. The charity will need trained drivers for this vehicle.

The charity recently held an EGM to elect a new management team. President is Carmen Perez; vice president,

Eileen Randall; general secretary Patricia Muirhead; treasurer, Carol Peace; legal secretary, Jordi Mauri Sole.