Dear Geraldine, Jose, Cari, and anyone else at GNHQ - may I have a word please.

My marriage broke up several years ago [pre internet]. I would often go from Friday afternoon when I left work, to Monday morning without speaking to a soul. I once phoned the Samaritans on Saturday night and said 'I'm not suicidal, but will you please just talk to me for a while'. Loneliness is tangible; the house had a feel to it that I could almost see. I wonder how it would have been if I'd had a computer at that time..however, I probably wouldn't have made the effort to rebuild my life.

..oh, and must point out that I'm not a 'social' person at all and, in general am quite happy on my own, so it must be awful for people who do need company. Very unfair of her to tell her daughter to move home, though.

Yes. She did, almost immediately, realise she shouldn't have been saying that. It did sound like she was desperate. You don't think of it with someone like that do you?

I think something like Gransnet could help while away the evenings. She said she falls asleep when she has eaten her cheese and biscuits and wakes about midnight with a muzzy head.

Other people who rang in, who had lost their lifelong partners were very lonely too.

You can be equally as lonely in a marriage that isn't working as well. Very difficult to talk about to people as well, and there's a catch 22 in it that when you're unhappy you're not good company so you get even more lonely. A downward spiral.

Yes. It was sad. Thank you Josie.

jinglej - Great post.

Can you find her address and e-mail her jingle? I think she is on FB and Twitter. Maybe through her agent?

JosieGransnet, can we do something on TV, radio to promote GN?

I saw that you suggested we make our "groups" aware of our existence... coffee groups, book groups etc.

What about posters in doctors' surgeries, car stickers (a small one), t-shirts (maybe not?). Posters in residential/retirement homes?

Some very bright and sparky people on here, I am sure we could some up with some intelligent suggestions between us

How about getting Age Concern on board to promote us?

I missed Geraldine :-(

We all did! I don't think she wanted us to see her. Shy, I reckon!

(as I said on the wrong thread)

gally said you can't get Breakfast on i-player. I looked and I couldn't see it on there.

Bummer.

Lost and gone forever.

Why didn't you tell us beforehand?

I might have got out of bed.

It is very sad that people can be that lonely, one always thinks of celebrities being surrounded by lots of people. My husband worked away from home for 16 years and I was alone for 5 days a week, I did not work, but can honestly say I was not lonely.

But you still had your husband harrigran and he came home at weekends. I think the bleakness must set in when you can see no end to it.

CariGN Better to let us know anything vital, like Breakfast, on GN - I still can't get my head around this tweeting thing (my MP does it and that's enough to put me off - ex P.M. Mr.Brown! )

Absolutely Gally!

"Tweeted it"!

Cari As you are good friends with Age-UK, could you get them to put a boot up the b***s**e of Eon for failing to give people the right info when they phone to ask about the cheapest tariff? And for letting their (very pushy) door-to-door salesman tell us that if we signed up to the tariff he recommended, we would get a payback each day the temperature dropped below zero?

On closer inspection it transpired that that was only on the higher of the two Age-UK tariffs, and the place they measured the temperature was in a warmer region of the UK (and the payback was so small it would not have helped us keep warm anyway)