10,000 older Shropshire people 'deeply lonely', says charity

The news comes after hundreds of people attended a funeral of a veteran who died with no living family.

There had been fears that the only people at the Shrewsbury funeral of former marine David Kerr would be representatives from the care home where he had lived for the past two years.

But a plea from the funeral directors for people to pay their respects to the 90-year-old army veteran could not have had a better response last week.

Now local charity Age UK Shropshire Telford & and Wrekin has estimated that 10,000 older people in Shropshire are feeling "deeply lonely".

Statistics suggest that 17 per cent of older people in the UK are in contact with family, friends or neighbours less than once a week, and 11 per cent in contact less than once a month.

Volunteers

Heather Osborne, chief executive of Age UK Shropshire Telford and Wrekin, suggested ways volunteers can help combat loneliness among older people in the county.

She said: “There are lots of ways people can get involved to help charities like ours combat loneliness in our communities. Anyone can volunteer as a befriender, telephone buddy or day centre helper.

"We have been running the telephone buddies scheme for over 10 years and it continues to be a valuable service to help tackle loneliness and isolation.

"We are also encouraging businesses, cafes and restaurants to lend their support. M&S café in Shrewsbury regularly hold a great get together, welcoming people in to the café for a chat with tea and biscuits, we’d love to work with more businesses across the county to become age friendly so please contact us on 01743 233 123.”