Pensioners' charity helpline braced for busy Christmas period

More than a million pensioners admit feeling lonely over the Christmas period, due to living alone or having no one to talk to

The Silver Line helpline receives an average of 10,000 calls every week from vulnerable and isolated older people - a number which increases over the Christmas period.

Since it started operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week in 2013, it has received more than 1.6 million calls.

Last Christmas The Silver Line was inundated with calls from vulnerable and isolated older people. Due to a lack of funding, it struggled to answer more than 5,000.

To raise awareness of the helpline's plight, content and media agency 72Point has today launched the 'Start a Conversation' campaign to help The Silver Line to answer every single call this year.

They have created a video to encourage people to connect with others and start a conversation before it's too late.

Nina Gopal, Director of Fundraising at The Silver Line, said: “We’re a relatively new organisation and entirely charity funded. Every £5 enables us to answer a call from a vulnerable and isolated older person who needs to hear a friendly voice.

“This video shows the difference a phone call can make. The Silver Line is there when all other services have closed down for Christmas.”

Sixty-eight per cent of callers contact The Silver Line because they feel lonely or isolated, with 90 per cent living alone. More than half have no-one else to speak to.​