For many, the festive period can be a difficult and lonely time.

However it's set to be even harder this year as large numbers of older people also face a perilous winter of soaring energy prices and high inflation. Issues such as ill health, bereavement and reduced mobility can bring their own challenges and often make it harder for older people to stay connected.

This Christmas, thousands of older people will be in this lonely place. Where the walls seem to close in. Where time grinds to a halt. Where there's nothing to look forward to. And with the next round of energy prices and escalating living costs, daily life is fast becoming unaffordable for many older households, with many older people struggling through these challenges alone, with no one to turn to.

And isolation means these older people will have nobody to ask for help. Not when ill health means they can't leave their homes. Not when money's so tight they're choosing between putting the heating on and buying food. Not even when they feel desperately lonely. No older person should live like this.

But there is a solution: a call to Age UK Solihull.

That call could start to change everything.

We listen. We give expert advice. And when someones lonely, we match them with a befriender they can count on.

We can't be there without you.

With your help this Christmas, we can make all the difference to the isolated older Solihull residents who call us, with nowhere else to go. Well help them overcome their challenges. Well help them find confidence again.