Webchat with Baroness Barran Tuesday 16th June at 4pm - add your questions here

Talk!

throw money! Governments have no idea what it is like

in fact, I didn`t till I got older and my dh died.. now I know what lonely is to me..

can`t go to church and church get togethers,, not all "churchy"

Society has changed, I grew up when people lived together, I have lived in this small Close for over 20 years, and no one speaks, all out at work, or furloughed, or frightened to speak to other people..

sad society, thanks Maggie Thatcher I blame her.

We've always known about loneliness and people being isolated. Now is the time to take action. There are many people out there who were lonely before the virus now there are more. There will be many problems because of the situation we have it won't be solved easily or quickly there will be many repercussions.

I think it's great that you are encouraging people to talk about loneliness. But haven't we moved past that now? Don't we need to be taking proper action? GPs should be involved. Everyone needs to visit one, they should have time allowed to spend with people who seem lonely and prescribe websites, social groups etc. But they need to follow up on this too. This pandemic has shown me how isolating it is not to be able to go shopping or just communicate with others doing basic things. If that is denied you because you can't get around as easily then my future looks very bleak.

Hello and thank you for coming on to talk to us about this. My elderly mother has been on her own too for the past 14 years. I've been extremely worried about her during lockdown. My sister lives closer to her but has been shielding and so unable to visit and I am three hours drive away. She has had no one visit her over this time, aside from food deliveries and an occasional over the fence hello from one of her neighbours. I can see from our calls that the isolation has really taken a toll on her. And now she's been indoors for so long she's terrified about leaving the house compounding the problem. What is the government doing about this? I feel like her needs and those of so many other elderly people are right at the bottom of the pile of priorities right now.

There have been several reports noting that, because council funding has been significantly reduced, the number of older people having access to day services, such as lunch clubs, has significantly decreased. In 2012 Age UK reported that numbers using these services had fallen from 88,498 in 2009-10 to 68,160 in 2011-12 and this trend has continued. It warned then that thousands of older people faced "the prospect of living out their last years in loneliness".

The reduction in such services - which may include exercise classes, hairdressing, podiatry and social activities - have naturally had an impact on older people and their carers.

While a conversation regarding the issue of loneliness and social isolation is welcome, will there also be a focus on restoring ongoing government funding for some of these services which help so many people? Relying on funding from charities is not a reliable method of ensuring continuity. When funding ends, if new financial sources are not found successful projects often have to be abandoned.

What is your view on this?