Will the Elderly in Windsor spend Christmas alone?

Friends of the Elderly commissioned a survey recently to

find out the opinions of people sharing Christmas celebrations with their

elderly relatives. It was revealed that there a million older people living

alone in UK and out of that, half a million will be spending Christmas alone

this year. The survey revealed 24% of people would not be inviting their

elderly relatives to their Christmas celebrations and 44% of people said they

did not have time to visit their elderly relatives. Others said they could not

be bothered. Ironically when asked what is Christmas all about, majority had

said it is about spending time with family and friends.

Earlier this year, charities such

as AGE UK revealed that loneliness was a hidden killer of elderly people and

campaigned for it to become recognised as a public health issue. It is believed

that loneliness makes elderly vulnerable to depression, poor diet and lack of

exercise. In this campaign it was revealed that one in five elderly saw their

family less than once a week, while one in ten saw them less than once a month.

There are charities in the UK that

looks after elderly people and give them company over the Christmas period;

however it is not the same feeling as being with family and relatives as the

recent survey by Friends of the Elderly revealed.