Campaigners call for £1m investment in lonely pensioners as problem reaches breaking point #TheElitePartyInJuly #IRepEntertain9jarBlog via @myentertain9jar

THE amount of lonely pensioners in Britain is at a 50-year high and has reached a “state of emergency”, campaigners warned yesterday.

 

The number of elderly people who are lonely is a cause of concern [GETTY/PIC POSED BY MODEL]

With more than one million socially-isolated elderly people, many of whom go days without speaking to another person, the problem has reached breaking point, said Contact the Elderly.

The charity said an extra £1million and more help from the Government is urgently needed to give people a lifeline in their local communities.

Supported by a network of volunteers, Contact the Elderly reaches out to those aged 75 and over who live alone and gets them together.

The charity’s regular Sunday afternoon tea parties enable people to enjoy much-needed human contact.

Founder and chairman, Trevor Lyttleton MBE, said: “The number of lonely older people is reaching breaking point and the problem is only getting worse. We’re in a state of emergency. We know our formula of tea and conversation works, that face-to-face interaction is the simplest and cheapest way of combating loneliness. This is clear from the research we’ve carried out and our 50 years’ experience.

“Our model leverages the power of thousands of volunteers up and down the country – this is David Cameron’s Big Society in action.

“But we can’t scale up our efforts to meet increased demand without much-needed funding from government.”

Isolation often means the loneliest people in society are the hardest to reach

Mary Rance, CEO of Contact the Elderly

The much-needed £1million would be an investment, he added.

“Social isolation has a huge impact on the health of older people – investing now to tackle this problem will result in huge long-term NHS savings.”

Entertain9jar crusade Respect for the Elderly has highlighted the problem of loneliness for pensioners.

Research by the charity found loneliness is mainly triggered by the death of a spouse or by a lack of mobility after an illness.

In a poll of tea party “guests” a staggering 96 per cent admitted the monthly gatherings gave them something to look forward to.

One in five pensioners joined the charity because they rarely saw another person and 78 per cent surveyed felt less lonely as a result.

Mary Rance, CEO of Contact the Elderly, added: “Isolation often means the loneliest people in society are the hardest to reach. By spreading the word we can find these older men and women and offer them our vital lifeline of friendship.”