﻿ Hardest winter appeal | Age UK
Skip to content
  1. Donate
  2. Your gift
  3. Payment

Email or call us
on 0800 077 8751

Email or call us
on 0800 169 8787

An older woman sits in her kitchen, looking concerned

Locked down and lonely in the depths of winter

Right now, older people like Beryl urgently need your help.

You must enable Javascript to use this form.

PAM regional

Thousands of older people are spending these cold dark days of winter alone, with only their worries for company. It’s no wonder so many older people are now saying ‘I don’t know how much longer I can cope.’

9 out of 10 people who have died of coronavirus in the UK have been 65 and older

That's more than 80,000 people. During the pandemic in 2020, 2.2 million people aged 60 and over had their wellbeing affected because they had no one to talk to about their worries.

Beryl looks out of her window, her hand pressed against the window pane

81-year-old Beryl has been on her own since the death of her husband just a few months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary. A year of isolation, anxiety and now months of cold and darkness have made Beryl’s loneliness even worse.

"I sit all day on my own, I can't go out. It's really lonely. I often just sit here and think, 'God, what is going to happen to me?'"


By making a donation today you could help transform the lives of vulnerable older people like Beryl.

Our Age UK Advice Line and telephone friendship services are providing a lifeline for older people like Beryl this winter. She's been receiving regular friendship calls. Even on the bleakest days of the pandemic, these calls give her comfort, reassurance and the strength to carry on.

Thanks to kind donations, we've supported more than 367,000 friendship calls to lonely older people since the start of the pandemic

In the depths of what, for many, may be their hardest winter ever, you could make sure that older people have someone they can turn to – someone who will soothe their fears and give them support. Someone who cares. Thank you.

Beryl smiling_1200x383.jpg

We’re here for you too


You are making a gift of £10

Please complete fields unless marked (optional)

200 characters remaining


Back to top