After the summer, the Apemex group has resumed its meetings to continue helping elderly people from other countries who live in Mijas, in an attempt to alleviate the problems caused by age and, to a greater extent, loneliness.

The initiative started a little over a year ago in the municipality and, since then, has counted on the collaboration of the Local Police and social groups of foreigners such as Age Care, Age Concern, the British Legion and the Lions Club.

“Through the Local Police we received reports from citizens, mainly retired British residents in the municipality who, for reasons of age or illness, were unable to manage their lives by themselves in an orderly manner, and so we saw the need to create this group”, explained the councillor for Social Inclusion of the Mijas Town Hall on Tuesday 19th, Hipólito Zapico (PSOE), while the councillor for Foreigners, Roy Pérez (PSOE), added that “thanks to this programme we are finding cases of extreme and unwanted loneliness among people who are not beneficiaries of Social Services, because generally they do not have economic problems, but they do need some kind of attention that we can provide through the Town Hall”.

Help and companionship

Among the main services, these foreigners receive help to make an appointment with a medical specialist, translate a legal document or go to a consultation, “and often the volunteers of the groups themselves coordinate to act as drivers and take them to the hospital or health centre closest to their home”, said Pérez, who also pointed out that, on other occasions, the beneficiaries just need some company “and, precisely, we have associations that meet once or twice a week for coffee and to encourage this type of social relations”.

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