CHARITY OF THE MONTH
AGE UK
Age UK Leicester & Rutland are dedicated to providing
support and services to help people feel part of a community and not isolated.
Click below to see how Age UK Leicestershire and Rutland have been helping their local community.
Loneliness. What does it mean to be feeling lonely?
Most people go through notions of loneliness due to different moments or events in their lives. The most common definition of loneliness is “A state of solitude or being alone”. So, what is chronic loneliness and is it a thing? Chronic loneliness involves feelings of loneliness and uncomfortable social isolation especially when this has been going on for a long time. It should be noted however that “loneliness” and “social isolation” hold their own definitions. One can be feeling loneliness whilst being surrounded by people and therefore loneliness is a subjective feeling and social isolation is more of an objective measure of the number of contact people one may have.
When the corona virus pandemic hit people over the age of the age of 70 were told to self – isolate to shield these individuals from exposure and to try and break the chain before peak. These attempts may have been successful in some areas of the world but largely left the elderly population feeling more alone and depressed as they heard news of friends, family or dears ones getting ill or passing away whilst being locked away from any comfort.
England is home to 1.4 million chronically lonely older people with many more across the UK. Age UK Leicester & Rutland are dedicated to providing support and services to help these people feel part of a community and not so lonely.
In 1941 The National Older Persons Welfare Committee (NOPWC) was formed to address the hardship and poverty that became apparent for older persons during the Second World War. 30 years later the committee became independent of government funding and local groups decided to take on the names Age Concern or Help The Aged. In 2010 these two charities formed together to become Age UK.
Along with multiple charity shops cross the UK the charity runs a café and various events such as bingo night at their Clarence House Community Centre. Age UK Leicestershire and Rutland is an independent local charity with every penny raised locally spent locally. They have limited support from the government with majority of their support coming from company sponsorships and donations.
EverythingCommunity and EverythingBranded have been providing ongoing support for the charity and has continued to be a member of their EngAGE Business Club. Click here to read the different ways in which you can help support the charity.
