Southern Befrienders, Manx Registered Charity 939, will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary on Saturday 11th July with an afternoon tea and mini fete at Port St Mary Town Hall from 2pm – 4pm.

“Southern Befrienders want to celebrate all that it has achieved in the 10 years since it was established by bringing the southern community together” says Southern Befrienders’ Manager, Lorna Trevethan. “We think that it is important to mark this milestone and thank the people in the south of the island for all their support over the past 10 years.”

This celebration event is being supported by 20 volunteers from Zurich International Life, as well as by volunteers from Living Hope Community Church and Men in Sheds. Zurich’s Communications Manager, Merita Taylor, commented: “Zurich’s employees have made a commitment to support various charitable initiatives in the local community in which we live and work, and we are delighted that we are able to help Southern Befrienders to hold this event. The charity does a very valuable job supporting elderly people living in the south of the Island and we know that this event will provide a great deal of enjoyment for them, as well as raise much needed funds.”

The celebrations are open to all, and the cost of the tickets is just ?4 per person, which includes a lovely afternoon tea of sandwiches, scones and cakes. Along with the afternoon tea there will be a mini fete including stalls, games and a tombola with the first prize being a Steam Packet travel voucher for a car and 2 passengers.

Tickets for both the Afternoon Tea and the tombola can be purchased by calling Southern Befrienders on 833025, or emailing southernbefrienders@manx.net or sbevents@manx.net.

Southern Befrienders exists in order to try and reduce feelings of loneliness and social isolation particularly in older people living in the southern communities of the Isle of Man. For further information about the work of Southern Befrienders please visit www.southernbefrienders.im or find us on Facebook.