Let Us Be Active! improved the community of elderly in three cities: Pärnu in Estonia, Turku in Finland and Riga in Latvia.

The project empowered seniors through a participatory approach and made volunteering options visible, for example at the call center in Riga or through the Tripfriend activity in Turku. The elderly got an opportunity to be socially active, do something meaningful, find fulfillment, find an activity that fits them best and establish friendship. In Pärnu a website on volunteering made activities available for seniors.

The project also changed the procedures and routines for professionals. They got a deeper awareness of senior volunteering and options that can be recommended to seniors. The guidelines for social workers on volunteering are available online in four languages, and the city administration in the partner cities have decided to continue managing the services after the project’s end.

The project succeeded to involve three times more participating seniors (300 > 862) and social workers/health care professionals (105 > 384) than expected.