DAME ESTHER: THANK YOU FOR THE LIFELINE
£150,000 raised in just 2 weeks... now Judi Dench backs Silver Line appeal
ESTHER Rantzen last night thanked caring Daily Express readers for raising £150,000 for The Silver Line helpline for lonely pensioners.
The charity, which Dame Esther set up in 2013, has helped millions by providing desperately needed human contact.
But two weeks ago Dame Esther revealed it urgently needed cash to meet a soaring demand for its service.
Her appeal, supported by leading figures including Dame Judi Dench and Nicholas Parsons, both of whom are ambassadors for the charity, has already born fruit.
Dame Esther said last night: “I am amazed by the generosity and compassion of the Daily Express readers.
“This campaign has raised an incredible £150,000 for us in two short weeks and I cannot thank you all enough.”
The free and confidential
telephone helpline costs £5million a year to run but the £10million five-year Lottery grant which helped it launch comes to an end in September.
With nowhere else to turn isolated older people are making 10,000 calls to the service every week.
Dame Esther, 78, issued her public appeal for support through the Daily Express on July 16.
Typical of the flood of heart-warming pledges in the last fortnight was one from a 77-year-old woman who told how she was surviving on a meagre state pension but felt compelled to make a £10 donation.
Thousands of similar acts of individual kindness have helped swell the charity’s fighting fund.
Dame Esther said: “We are deeply grateful to readers who have supported us so generously and proved they are determined to ensure The Silver Line is here for everyone who needs us.”
The charity had feared it could be forced to make cuts unless it received a major cash injection.
But the charity’s headquarters in London has been deluged with donations, pledges and letters of support.
One woman wrote to thank Dame Esther personally and enclosed £40, saying: “I hope and pray the money you need will come. I know what it is to feel lonely, not because I’m on my own but because my husband has dementia. Please don’t give up.”
Dame Esther said: “We are so moved by her uncomplaining courage and by the bravery of so many isolated old people who ring us because they have nobody else to speak to. As long as they need us, we will never give up.”
For legions of older people across Britain, The Silver Line is their vital link with human contact. As well as providing a listening ear the service’s volunteers help older people access other services.
Eight in 10 calls are from first-time callers and 70 per cent are made in the evening or at weekends, when other services are shut.
Nine in 10 of those who call live alone while 53 per cent said they speak to no one else except the volunteer on the helpline.
Christmas, evenings and weekends are among the busiest periods when being alone is at its most depressing.
Volunteers also make thousands of outgoing calls a week and write regular letters to those who are hearing impaired.
The Silver Line recently took its two millionth call and will be able to go on doing its work at full stretch thanks to the generosity of our army of readers who have already donated £50,000 by cheque, cash and over the phone. One has pledged £50,000 as a legacy in a will.
And last night healthcare provider HC-One promised to match pound for pound all future pledges up to £50,000. This means the charity can be sure of £150,000.
Meanwhile more donations are expected to flood in as a result of the Daily Express appeal.
HC-One chairman Dr Chai Patel said: “We were a founding partner of the wonderful The Silver Line charity. In this latest appeal we’ve been blown away by the generosity of Daily Express readers, whose donations will help positively change the lives of so many older people.”
The vital work of the charity has been recognised by Oscar-winning screen icon Dame Judi Dench, 83, who told the Daily Express last night the helpline was “an absolutely crucial service”.
Dame Judi, who has previously spoken of her battle with macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness and how she struggles to read her own scripts, urged: “We should all support it for the sake of lonely and isolated older people who desperately need our help.” Just A Minute radio host Nicholas Parsons, 94, said: “I have been an ambassador for The Silver Line from the beginning because I know how crucial the service is.
“Nothing else is open 24/7 for older people to contact when they feel lonely and completely isolated. It may be in the middle of the night, or even on days like Christmas Day when too often they are ignored and forgotten.
Some of the callers are disabled, some are caring for partners, all of them find the friendship and support they receive is literally a lifeline, making them feel somebody cares about them.
“It is tragic that so many older people can go for days without speaking to anyone else, when they only have their memories to keep them going. I know how crucial it is to have company and laughter in your life. The Silver Line offers that to thousands of callers every week, but to do that they need to pay for the calls, and that requires funding. I do hope they receive the support they need, the older people who rely upon them deserve it.”
Those working for the charity acknowledge they cannot continue to rely on Lottery handouts.
It receives generous support from companies including Saga, BT, Swiss Re insurance and People’s Postcode Lottery, but such is the demand for the service it provides money is quickly spent. Beryl Shenton, 89, told how the helpline saved her sanity after the death of her husband John.
The couple had been married for 50 years and were inseparable. Since he died in 2010, a day before her birthday, Beryl, from Basingstoke, Hants, has struggled with feelings of emptiness.
She said: “Every night I went to sleep in my husband’s arms. When I go to bed now I just want him there. I was lost, I just didn’t want to go on living. I called The Silver Line a few times and they helped me just by being there.
“They don’t give advice, they just chat. The Silver Line has helped me get my sanity back. I can’t praise them enough.”
Our readers’ compassionate response comes as the Daily Express’s Respect For The Elderly campaign gains widespread support. Our calls for a dedicated Minister for Older People to put their interests at the heart of decision making in Whitehall has also received praise and support.
And the Daily Express is backing charity Action on Elder Abuse which is calling for abuse of the elderly to be made an aggravated offence so courts can impose tougher sentences.