The Silver Line
It’s true to say that if you make something simple enough for everyone to use, then they will.
Esther Rantzen’s vision to create a “ChildLine for older people” is a simple concept – a free 24 hour helpline, available every day and night of the year, where you can ask about services in your area, talk in confidence, get some friendly advice or quite simply have a chat. And for people who would appreciate a regular call from the same person every week we offer Silver Line Friends who are volunteers and share our belief that a simple connection with another human being can make a difference.
As one caller told his Silver Line friend “when I get off the phone, I feel like I belong to the human race”.
More than half of all 75 year olds in the UK live alone and one in ten suffers “intense” loneliness but is reluctant to ask for help. In a poll conducted to mark the national launch of The Silver Line, 9 out of 10 older people told researchers that “a chat on the phone” is the most helpful solution when they feel lonely but 1 in 4 older people say they rarely have anyone to chat to on the phone.
The incidence of loneliness and isolation among older people is not just shocking because it makes them so unhappy, it has a hugely detrimental effect on their health, increasing the risk of heart disease and causing depression. Figures from the Department of Health indicate it is as dangerous as obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Socially isolated and lonely adults are also more likely to undergo early admission into residential care or hospital.
The Silver Line has been operating as a national service for six months and has received more than 100,000 calls. So the simple idea is having a transformational effect on the lives of thousands of older people and a huge and unmet need has been revealed. There is no other helpline for older people in the UK, available 24/7, free and confidential, and offering information, friendship and advice, linking older people to local groups and services, and supporting those who are suffering abuse and neglect.
Dorothy is 84. Her husband Eric died after 58 years of happy marriage. With no children and her only surviving brother living abroad, Dorothy has no family around her. She’s led a long and fascinating life but has no one to talk to. Sometimes when loneliness hits, she will “have a little weep. It’s a feeling of being abandoned “she says. “The hardest thing is eating alone and the flat, dead nights … there is nothing worse than trying to eat a meal on your own in my opinion. It seems to bring it home to you.”
Dorothy contacted the Silver Line, and now speaks regularly to a volunteer Silver Line Friend. “It’s lovely. I so look forward to her call. I love talking to people. I’m interested in people”.
Dorothy feels her life has taken a new direction since discovering The Silver Line. She is enjoying spreading the word about our service and is taking a computer class and is determined to learn computer skills, so she can become more connected.
- £5 pays for a call with an older person who may not have spoken to another human being all week
- £50 pays to recruit and train a volunteer Silver Line Friend
- £100 pays for an older person to be befriended for one year
If you would like further information please go to The Silver Line website, or ring our helpline on 0800 4 70 80 90, (from a mobile call 0300 4 70 80 90)
