Building society staff volunteer time to help combat loneliness

Staff at Yorkshire Building Society are helping to combat loneliness by training to become befrienders on Esther Rantzen's helpline for older people.
Esther Rantzen launched the Silver Line in 2012.
Picture: Andy StenningEsther Rantzen launched the Silver Line in 2012.
Picture: Andy Stenning
Esther Rantzen launched the Silver Line in 2012. Picture: Andy Stenning

So far, 29 staff at the Leeds-based building society have trained to make telephone friendship calls with The Silver Line after it became the charity’s largest corporate sponsor.

The helpline was founded by Ms Rantzen in 2012 and is the country’s only free, 24-hour helpline for older people.

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Under its friendship scheme, an older person is matched with a volunteer Silver Line Friend for a regular weekly chat – with many matches blossoming into real friendships.

Ms Rantzen said: “We have a very serious loneliness epidemic in this country, and it isn’t enough just to talk about it, we have to find ways of solving it. I’m so pleased that Yorkshire Building Society is partnering with us to tackle the loneliness and isolation so many older people experience.

“Loneliness has such a damaging effect on people’s mental and physical health.

“But sometimes conversation, sharing memories, and simply enjoying a joke together can make all the difference and transform lives.”

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On a visit to Leeds in April 2014, Ms Rantzen backed the Yorkshire Post’s long-running campaign Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic, calling the newspaper “brilliant” for its work highlighting the issue.

Laura Ruth, an assistant branch manager at the Yorkshire Building Society in Morley, who is taking part in the scheme, said: “It’s the most rewarding feeling ever I’ve ever had. Both of us are looking forward to the calls ahead.

“Some older people, for various reasons, just don’t get the chance to speak to anyone for days on end, so The Silver Line is a fantastic charity and becoming a Silver Line Friend is a great opportunity to make someone’s day.”

The Society’s corporate volunteering programme allows every staff member up to 31 hours’ paid leave every year.

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