The Southern Befrienders, a charity which arranges for volunteers to visit the elderly, is launching a new scheme, Going for Gold, in conjunction with six schools in the south of the Island, the Isle of Man Sports Council Southern Development Unit and Friends Provident International. Based on an Olympics theme, Going For Gold will begin this autumn and run until 2012, the year of the London games. It will begin with six schools in the south of the Island – Ballasalla School, Victoria Road School, Arbory School, Rushen Primary School, Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey and Castle Rushen High - taking part in a dress down day to raise money for Southern Befrienders. Pupils will be asked to wear something coloured bronze. In 2011 there will be fundraising events with a silver theme and events with a gold theme in 2012. Going For Gold challenges pupils to raise a total of ?21,000 for the Southern Befrienders charity which arranges for volunteers to visit the elderly and help make them feel less isolated. The ?21,000 figure has been chosen because by 2012 the charity estimates there will be 21,000 elderly people living on the Island. As well as fundraising Going For Gold will help to educate pupils about issues affecting elderly people and aims to create a greater understanding between different generations. Southern Befrienders organisers and volunteers will visit schools to take part in classes. To get the scheme off the ground Friends Provident International, which is based in Castletown, has donated ?2,500 making it the charity’s main corporate sponsor. The company already has a strong connection to the charity as five Friends Provident International staff are volunteers with Southern Befrienders and visit elderly people in the south of the Island. Maddie Porter, Southern Befrienders’ scheme co-ordinator, thanked Friends Provident International for its continued support. She said: "We are lucky enough to have people regularly ringing up to ask if they can help, but we always need more volunteers to help us expand the service. And we are very grateful to the staff from Friends Provident International who give their time to make a contribution to the charity and for the donation to support the Going For Gold scheme." Jonathan Hall, general manager and director at Friends Provident International, said: "The Going For Gold scheme is an excellent way for schools to get involved in raising funds for Southern Befrienders and understanding more about the benefits the charity brings to our community. Becoming the corporate sponsor for Going For Gold was a natural development for Friends Provident International as a number of our staff are already volunteers.” Southern Befrienders is part of the Manx Befriending Network which has been given the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the ‘MBE’ for voluntary groups. The Manx Befriending Network is a collaboration between Southern Befrienders and the Live At Home scheme. If you would like to volunteer to help the Southern Befrienders, or want more information about the Going For Gold scheme, email southernbefrienders@manx.net or call 833025. - Ends -