Hi everyone - quick question:

If you and your partners had sufficient funds to set up a support service for elderly expats in Spain, what would it be? What do people need help with? And where would you do it?

I am thinking of anything that would help provide a bridge between expats and Spain (local authorities/bureaucracy, whatever) or would help them remain in Spain, if they want to, when it seems they have no choice but to go home (supported living etc?)

The idea would be to set up a social enterprise that would make enough money to pay staff and sustain itself but would also need to be affordable and not for profit.

Thanks in advance!

Bobby

Hola

I would do a lot of research into where there are lots of ex-pats with lots of money. I think you will be struggling; you perhaps need to think about why people return to there roots after a wonderful life here

Davexf

Thanks Dfx. Yes you could be right. But I read of so many people who are left bewildered eg when a partner dies and could perhaps be glad of the help of a well qualified, bilingual British 'personal assistant' with good knowledge of how things work in Spain. I guess it could be useful for some....although granted some people actually want to go back to the UK at this point

Perhaps you should read the recent thread on"When it's time to go home!"
Support for the elderly is the next big growth industry!
Sorry reply has got mixed up with quote!

Thanks Neptuno, yes that thread reminded me of the number of people there are who, for one reason or another, haven't learnt the language and suddenly find themselves pretty helpless. I'd be quite interested in setting something up which would help some of these people - I've done it quite a lot in my free time already but if there was demand I'd like to do more of it.

a couple came to my town a year or so back with the same idea - they already had a solid business in the UK doing something similar

despite there being a lot of elderly 'comfortable' expats here, they were back in the UK within 6 months having lost a fair bit of money

"Drop in centres" for older people have been a big social/support scene within the UK in recent years, but now being phased out due to so called austerity cuts. These centres within the larger expat areas of Spain could provide the link between the expat and the local community. However these tend to be diluted by the venue being provided by the local bar and thus the emphasis is on providing a secondary service such as drinks and all other commercial aspects.

These centres can supply emotional, educational and practical support to those who would otherwise be isolated within their so called community.