Roy is one of the hundreds of thousands of older people facing the hardest Christmas of their long lives – entirely on their own.
Roy was devastated when his wife, Maggie, passed away a few years ago. When the pandemic began, Roy found himself even more shut off from the world.
As the fear and isolation of the coronavirus crisis continues, many older people now face a Christmas like no other in living memory.
"Christmases with my wife Maggie were always so nice. It looks like I’ll be on my own again for Christmas this year. Life is so lonely when you are on your own."
After Roy found the courage to call Age UK, we arranged for him to receive weekly friendship calls. It’s made a life-changing difference.
Our vital services have never been so in demand – and we expect the need for friendship calls to be higher than last Christmas.
225,000 older people often go a whole week without speaking to anyone. We cannot let older people suffer alone. Not this year. Not ever.
Age UK provides a range of services and your gift will go wherever the need is greatest. Age UK is a registered charity, no 1128267.