Toa Payoh has launched Project Silver Circle to provide weekly volunteer engagement for frail and isolated seniors, fostering community connections and ensuring resident well-being.
SINGAPORE – In Toa Payoh, seniors who are frail or living alone will now get a weekly knock on the door from volunteers young and old, who drop by for a chat, offer help with errands or bring them on outings.. Under the new Project Silver Circle, launched on May 9 during a community visit by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, volunteers will identify such seniors and befriend them, providing them with companionship through various
activities.. Volunteers will work with partners like active ageing centres and the Silver Generation Office “to take them out on things like grocery runs and just your regular breakfast”, said Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Cai Yinzhou, who oversees the Toa Payoh Central ward.. Beyond regular check-ins, the programme aims to reconnect seniors with community life, encouraging them to step out, build friendships and participate in active living programmes.. Mr Cai said that by 2023, one
in four Singaporeans will be above the age of 65.. In Toa Payoh Central, however, half of the residents are already above the age of 50.. Sharing that he noticed many senior residents during his house visits, he said: “Some of them lived alone or with their elderly spouse or sibling, and some of them have mobility issues or maybe lacked the confidence to leave their homes alone.” Toa Payoh was the first designated Age
Well Neighbourhood (AWN), an initiative announced in 2025 to bolster community-based support for seniors by offering more active ageing programmes and strengthening the outreach to seniors.. Bedok, Bukit Panjang and Tiong Bahru-Redhill were recently designated as AWNs, too.. Mr Cai said that as an AWN, Toa Payoh Central has numerous services available for seniors, including new active ageing centres, expanded home personal care services, and more health and social activities.. Project Silver Circle aims to
complement that, primarily to engage volunteers and neighbours to care for one another, he said.. The initiative also aims to reduce the risk of vulnerable residents going unnoticed.. There have been several reported incidents of what are known as undetected or lonely deaths in recent years, in which people who die at home are only discovered days or even weeks later.. In December 2024, a couple were found dead in a Jurong Flat after neighbours
reported a strange smell wafting along the corridor.. Mr Cai said he hopes to foster a culture whereby neighbours care and look out for each other.. He said: “It is really to build Toa Payoh Central where neighbours care for neighbours, and we as a neighbourhood care for one another.”