A simple call from a loved one can do the world of good.

The Soita Mummolle campaign encourages you to call your grandparents.

11 August sees the culmination of the Soita Mummolle (‘Call Your Grandma’) campaign which began in April. The brainchild of an Italian graphic designer and researcher, Stefania Passera, Soita Mummolle is a social campaign aimed at sensitising people to the issue of senior citizens’ loneliness. “Last year I was participating in a project where my team was asked to design concepts for products and services to help seniors live happily, longer and more independently in their homes,” Passera explains of her inspiration for the project.

“At some point I realised that seniors don’t need more stuff or more people taking care of them. It’s the overall mentality of the society that is the real field of intervention: our designs should aim at changing society starting from the first step, which are the relatives. If we don’t do anything for our own parents or grandparents ourselves, we don’t have the right to demand more intervention from the State. There should be a shared, common responsibility.”

A Facebook page and street ambushes have drawn supporters and sponsors to Passera’s campaign, and on 11 August a flash mob outside Kamppi shopping centre at 16:00 will encourage passers-by to call their grandparents free of charge within Finland by lending them mobile phones. Grandparents are likewise encouraged to make contact with their relatives.

“My goal is to challenge people to think about their own elderly parents and grandparents and inspire them to get nearer to them, to share more of their lives together,” says Passera.

“I want to prove that the motivated action of a single citizen can change the status quo and spread ideas good for the society. I believe big changes start at a personal level.”

NICK BARLOW - HT
LEHTIKUVA - SARI GUSTAFSSO