Senior Center in Trastevere: Where People Are Not Alone and Learn from Chess to Crochet

Crochet, ceramics, chess. And even computer courses to learn how to use your smartphone effectively. The Trastevere senior center is a very special place to support older people, making them feel active and helping them combine innovation and sustainability.

Trastevere Senior Citizens' Center

The Trastevere Center was created as a place to build community among seniors, often alone and without immediate family or close friends. The goal is to motivate these men and women and encourage them to be socially active. Numerous initiatives are held within the Trastevere Center, from morning to night. These include chess lessons, crochet classes, computer and cell phone skills classes, watercolor classes, ceramics classes, English classes, dance classes, Pilates classes, and postural exercises. Added to this long list are a reading group, drama school, and gardening classes. There's no shortage of social activities, such as twice-monthly dinners accompanied by a piano concert. All of this is self-organized and managed by the members themselves. Senior citizens. Furthermore, thanks to a small fee that seniors pay to use the activities, the center is entirely self-financing.

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SPROUTS PROJECT

In four years, the center has grown from 173 members to 840: the majority are women, with an average age of 67. The center has established collaborative relationships with Legambiente and Trastevere Attiva, a volunteer organization, with which it organizes activities and workshops to educate young people and make the neighborhood increasingly eco-sustainable. The Germogli project was born with this very purpose. The senior center follows a plastic-free policy: all dinners and refreshments use only biodegradable disposable products. Even disposable plastic water bottles have been replaced with reusable jugs; an organic waste compost has been created where food scraps from our dinners are collected in the trash. composter to become fertilizer for the garden and reduce landfill waste. An organic urban garden is also being established, where spices used in cooking are grown. Various products are also being collected: used cooking oil, PVC bottle caps, corks, used batteries, and broken cell phones. Finally, to encourage the reuse of objects, rather than throwing them away and wasting them, the Trastevere Senior Center has set up a noticeboard with notices bearing the very meaningful title: Gift.

ALSO READ: Gianni, the Sicilian retiree who collects cigarette butts on Palermo's beaches. He pays one euro per butt.

The project is a candidate for the 2023 Non Sprecare Award, in the Startup section. To submit your project, follow the instructions provided. here.

THE PROJECTS COMPETING FOR THE 2023 NON SPRECARE AWARD:

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