Lonely older people don’t want to impose

Please note: this post is 146 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

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We've always been confident that North London Cares can make an important contribution, bringing people together who may not normally interact and in particular to support our older neighbours who do not have close networks of friends and family around them.

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But we were struck by two articles in the national press yesterday which served as important reminders of why we do the work we do.

The first was a piece in the Telegraph which reported on a new Age UK survey showing that almost 1 million older people in the UK do not know even their closest neighbours because they do not want to "impose on them" and that they "always seem so busy". The survey showed that some 3.5 million people over 65 receive no help, support or companionship from the people living around them.

The second article, on the BBC News website, showed that more than a quarter of Londoners say they feel lonely "often or all of the time" -- and the same proportion say there is little or no sense of community where they live. The BBC article highlights the good work of our friends at the Camden Town Shed.

These items in the national news media highlight that combating isolation and loneliness is not going to be easy -- and it is a challenge that is only going to grow in the coming years as our population continues to age and people live longer than ever.

That's why we set up North London Cares: to make it easy for young people to support older people in their community.

And that's why, this winter, at a time when many older people can struggle even more than normal, North London Cares is recruiting enthusiastic volunteers -- people like, Ben, Jess, Adam, Lauren, Vincent and Andrea -- to give up a little time to support their neighbours.

Together, we aim to speak to 1,000 people between now and the end of February. We will distribute information on how people can stay warm during the cold snap. We wil take people blankets and cold Edit alarms. We will help people fix their boilers. And we will run social clubs that help people to get out of their homes to spend time with peers and younger friends.

To help us tackle our ongoing challenges over the coming months, please sign up.

Together, we can help people feel less lonely by "connecting people, and building communities".