Silverline

There is a (slightly) more recent thread on tis topic which I think TAB12 started which might interest you princess47

Hello princess47 hope you stick around as GN has lots to offer.

some people have no family at all,and very few friends,especially if like us are housebound.
take care princess47 x

I think it is a great idea, set up for all the best of intentions and I wish them all well and hope it becomes a great success.

There is danger in anything if you look for it but should that stop what is intended to be a lifeline for so many unfortunate, lonely people?

True, but it is no different to people claiming to be from the Social Services or any other organisation so as to take advantage of lonely individuals. There is not an extra layer of danger to it, and the publicity which goes with Silverline will doubtless include warnings about fraud.

My point is that anyone can phone an individual and claim to be from Silverline. Isolated older people may not be aware of the need for a password. I have a positive approach to life, but that doesn't rule out the need to be aware that there are exploiters just waiting for another opportunity exploit.

It is probably a good idea for people who are alone , or have no-one !!

As long as proper safeguards are put in place which I am sure they will be !!

How very sad it is that an idea aimed at helping people immediately rings alarm bells about exploiters. It just makes me shiver. What a sad old world we live in now.

I think that the service cold have a part to play, as long as there are proper safeguards. Some old people do not like to invite people into their house because they know it is a bit of a mess/ haven't the energy to play the host (ess) etc and a phone call might feel better for them.

Presumably there would be some sort of password and the "phoner" would not know the address of the "phonee."

I think it is a good idea, but my only concern is the propensity of frail elderly people to feel they have to rush to get to the phone before it rings off and risk falling.

If someone rings Silverline, or Age Uk for that matter, and makes contact, I am sure they will have the systems to make sure that the system is not open to abuse. Why would anyone know that someone had a Silverline befriender unless the recipient told them?

Elegran, my concerns aren't so much about the approved volunteers on the phone line, more about the fact any one can phone an elderly person, and pretend to be anyone.
Isolation, or feeling lonely despite have good support from family and friends often goes hand in hand with the process of ageing. My mother's confidence deteriorated hugely in a very short period of time, along with her eye sight and hearing sadly. My mum in law in 93 and still lives independently, but is vulnerable on the phone in a way she never has been previously. I don't want to just knock an idea that may help some people, but I do wonder if any positives may be outweighed by potential pitfalls. Life is full of pitfalls though isn't it and it shouldn't stop us trying new things. I do hope part of my reservation isn't down to my distaste of Esther's comments about Jimmy Saville's behaviour being an open secret once the horror was finally made public.

Goldengirl Sooo agree,

I live in a tourist area where the only public toilets are down a steep flight of stairs and I think close at night. we get lots of elderly tourists and coaches, don't the local council want people to visit!

Lack of loos is also a big problem for the disabled as I know from my own family. I spoke to a lady in a wheelchair on a train some years ago, she told me that she hated New Street station in Birmingham as there were no toilets on the platforms if she needed to change trains, it would be the same for elderly passengers. Hope that changed when the station was modernised.

I believe, like Iam64 that reducing services is one of the problems. In addition, although it might seem strange, the closing of public toilets is also an issue for older people [as well as for others of course] because as we get older many of us lose bladder - and bowel - elasticity and can't hold on for any length of time [not that we should as that is a health hazard in itself]. This fear of wetting or soiling ourselves means that many people prefer to remain indoors to avoid the threat of any embarrassment and of course this has a knock on effect with regard to mental health and loneliness. And talking toilets remains a taboo subject for many older people.

My local Age Uk has run a telephone befriending service for nearly 20 years. Older people are rung regularly once a week by the same person, usually of a similar age.

I think many Age UK branches also do the same thing.

was on North West news tonight

heard about this on channel 5 this evening and the most telling thing ER said was that while most 'elderly' people have friends, acquaintances and extended family to do 'things with' they often do not have anyone to do 'nothing with', which I think sums up most of the feelings of those of us who live alone.
Our families, friends are there when there is something to take part in (but as we all know we let our families live their own lives and we don't want to be a burden and are fiercely independent etc) but it is hard to return to an empty house and have no-one to unwind from the day with.
and it is not just the older generation who can feel this way.
and this is probably why lots of us have dog(s) to fill a bit of the void.

Iam64 If they are the same people who have been manning Age Scotland telephones doing the same thing, they will have had the proper checks and have to use passwords and keep records of their calls. There will be records of which people are on whose list. New recruits will get the same checks.

I would hate to downplay telephone calls, having been involved with the Samaritans in its early days, apart from giving human contact the callers would be in a good position to alert other services (if they exist!)

However, I totally agree with Iam64 as our faculties deteriorate we need real one to one human contact.

My 92 year old neighbour is fiercely independent, but has no family nearby, she has several times been involved in scams, although even she smelled a rat when someone posing as a water board official told her that her next door neighbour was building a swimming pool and could he check her water supply.

She does need support, but she will be much happier if that support can be given in her own home where she still has local friends.

Saw the item on the BBC breakfast programme this morning. A couple of thoughts popped into my head also. The widower they featured in the item was surely still grieving for the loss of his wife? He was obviously still very upset and needed his family (who were much in evidence) to help him through a perfectly natural process. Grief is not the same as loneliness and I am not sure how much his story helped.

Also we can all feel lonely at times but it can be as part of a depressive episode rather than a lack of available contact. Someone who is going through depression or stress related illness can feel friendless and become withdrawn despite having family and friends around.

I have no answers - just questions at the moment.

I share the unease expressed by others about the potential for vulnerable people to be exploited. I think I've also spent too much time working on the dark side (like Brendawymms post above) Regular exposure to folk who are prepared to exploit or abuse others makes you aware of how many of those type of people live alongside us.

As we age, our sight, hearing and mental faculties begin to deteriorate, which lowers self confidence. We do become more vulnerable. A telephone line isn't the best way for isolated older people to have some human contact.

I'd feel happier if Esther Ranzen would campaign to protect day centres, home care and other essential services which are being cut and slashed. We need more of those services, not less. I understand the financial reasons for meals on wheels, for example, moving from the provision of a hot meal at mid day to a delivery of meals that can be microwaved over the week. I know that many elderly people welcomed the daily visit from meals on wheels, because of the friendly social contact. Also, how quick the drivers were to alert the social work team if someone didn't answer their door, which would mean our duty social worker calling round to make sure everything was ok. It's human contact that we need when lonely, if no family live nearby, or family relationships have broken down day care centres etc are an important way of supporting isolated and vulnerable older people. Our neighbour is 93, and has fantastic support from her family so she can continue to live in her own home. She also has twice daily visits from home care, and 10 - 4 pm day care, transport provided by the local authority.
I don't want to be overly negative about ER or her ideas, but the isolated and vulnerable elderly are a very different target group than children and I'm not convinced about silver line

I got the impression that that what Silverline needed most were real people to do the regular phoning, not massive fundraising. They phone the same people at frequent intervals, so that they become trusted friends. They only have a few each on their list, and at least two are needed for each "client" so that more than one familiar contact is available if one is on holiday or off-duty when someone wants to chat. It is done by volunteers.

In Scotland, Age Scotland was going to do that practical side of it, using their existing volunteers and others they could recruit.

There was also talk of putting people living alone in touch with one another to form mutual support groups, but that takes a certain amount of care and screening.

That's genuinely sad Charleygirl . But there are so many people who DO have family and still never see or hear from them. I do hope you have friends nearby.

gillybob I have no family in England, any I had in Scotland have died. I have some in Ireland but I have not seen them for years.

Apparently the age of people who are considered as perhaps being in need of Silverline are over-55's !

I don't think it is always a money thing though merlogran . I can't understand how or why the elderly are so easily cast aside often by their own family. What a difference a call or better still a visit can make to someone lonely.

Maybe Terry Wogan et al would be happy to front an annual shindig to raise millions for disadvantaged elderly folk.

Doesn't quite have the AAAAHHHHH factor though does it?