Irish Older Peoples' Project 

“It’s great to have a visit from somebody in the afternoon, it breaks the silence of here”

(Irish Older Person, South London) 

The Older Person’s Project (OPP) supports and cares for the most vulnerable and isolated of older Irish people in London. We do this by: 

• Providing a culturally sensitive visiting service that reaches out to older Irish people in their homes as well as in care homes and in hospital.  
• Spending quality time with older Irish people to listen to their life stories, to offer support and encouragement and to assure them they are not forgotten. 
•  Helping older Irish people reconnect with their families and friends back in Ireland.  
• Assisting older Irish people to access their entitlements to mainstream services and advocating on their behalf.   
• Helping older Irish people who wish to return to Ireland to do so, and to ease their reintegration into Irish society.  
• Offering spiritual and religious support to older Irish people irrespective of their beliefs and attitude to the Church.  

A Profile of Our Irish Older People 

• Nearly half of our clients (47%) do not feel that London is a good place to live in anymore.

‘If I was young I would return to Ireland’

• In times of trouble 30% of our clients reported that they have no-one to call for help.

‘My brother from North London used to help, but lately he has not come’

• 57% of our clients do not receive any weekly visitors to their home (besides our worker).

‘The Chaplaincy is the only visit I get each week’

• 80% of our clients felt that London is an expensive place to live.

‘It’s getting more expensive by the week, especially food and bills’

• 37% of our clients no longer feel part of the Irish community in London and even those who reported some sense of belonging would say that this has weakened.

‘Having an Irish befriender helps’ 

Our project has offices in Camden, Ealing and Southwark, but we reach out to older Irish people across London. 

We always welcome requests to assist, help and visit older Irish people. People can refer themselves to us as can their family or friends, and we also accept referrals from statutory and non statutory agencies, as well as local churches and care homes. 

Please click here if you would like to download our referral forms

If you would like any more information on the project or referrals please contact the Older Persons Project on 0207 482 3274 or email olderpersons@irishchaplaincy.org.uk 

You can find out more about the impact of our work with older Irish people in our recent report on the publications page -“Treasure Houses of Wisdom”. 

“I visited Johnny, a 76 year old man who had major heart surgery done with associated complications. Since he had no family in UK, the parish priest and I were the only visitors he had during his prolonged stay in hospital. At the end of 14 weeks he was told he was going to be discharged to his flat. Yet during my visits Johnny had expressed the hope of being placed in a convalescent home for a few weeks. The need for this seemed obvious. I advocated for Johnny with the discharge team, and he eventually got his wish of residential care for 2 weeks. He is now at home and I have since helped organise a home carer to come in three times a day. I consider our role as advocates as essential to ensure adequate provision of services for our older Irish people”(Sr Bernardine McNulty, Outreach Worker)