Imagine a day when...…no one called in,…you had no contact with anyone else from getting up to going to bed. Most of us have felt very lonely and alone at some point in our lives. It’s a profoundly personal and painful experience and people can feel completely hopeless. Luckily for many, life moves on and these feelings pass. But for some of us loneliness can become chronic, making us miserable and often causing us to lose self-confidence. It can become increasingly difficult to build new and meaningful relationship that could restore our sense of self and self-worth. The fact that loneliness carries a stigma can make it hard to admit to it and seek help. And often people don’t know where to go for support.

…you didn’t see anyone, 

…no one phoned, or emailed or texted or Tweeted or Facebooked you

Now… imagine that the next day was the same, and the next and the next….

Research by Age UK shows that loneliness is a real problem for older people in the North East; four Local Age UKs including Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland (known collaboratively as Age UK North of Tyne and Gateshead), are pledging to reduce chronic loneliness and isolation of older people in the region by collaborating to raise awareness and act.