Hate crime, TV licences and isolation
Still helping the homeless – at 98 500k
AT 98, you would expect Peggy Maskrey to be putting her feet up, festive glass in hand, as she watches the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day.
But no chance – Britain’s longest-serving volunteer will instead be serving up hot meals for the homeless at the shelter where she has worked for the last 82 years.
She was only eight when her mother first took her to Charles Thompson’s Mission in Birkenhead, Merseyside, in 1928. When she was 16, she spent her free time helping out and met her husband Teddy, a fellow volunteer, there.
Widowed mother-of-one Peggy has served tens of thousands of hot meals amid a world war, Moon landing, World Cup win and 16 Prime Ministers.
In February, Prince Charles presented her with an MBE at Buckingham Palace for her “selfless services to the people of Birkenhead”.
Peggy, a former waitress who retired at 70, said: “I absolutely love it here, helping those who need it. I’ve seen a lot of changes, it’s very much a home-from-home for me.
“Christmas is the time when I am needed the most. It’s great being part of a team that helps make at least some difference to people’s lives.
“Over the years I’ve seen young boys coming and then returning as grown men to help out.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and I still do. I’m here two days every week and I love it.
“I used to come here every day and I wish I still could – but while the spirit is willing, my body is weaker!
“I’d be broken-hearted if I ever had to stop coming here altogether, because it’s been my life.” Charles Thompson’s shelter manager, Bernie Frost, said: “This mission has been operating for 126 years and Peggy has been a big part of its history.”
the Co-op Foundation, which funds projects tackling youth loneliness, said: “Our funding will support young people, including young carers and those with experience of care and bereavement, to find innovative solutions to loneliness so they can build their confidence and skills.”
Today’s announcement comes two months after Prime Minister Theresa May launched the first ever loneliness strategy which was the first recognition that severe physical and mental damage can be created by isolation.
Experts say that despite living in a digital age where people are seemingly better connected than ever, loneliness is on the rise.
Children have thousands of friends on social media but experts say there is no substitute for faceto-face interaction. Ironically, however, technology and teaching people to use the internet to stay in contact could help millions of older Britons who live alone to connect with the outside world.
Research shows loneliness is as bad for health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. There are now thought to be at least 1.2 million chronically lonely older people in the UK with 500,000 going at least five days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone. And more than half of all people aged 75 and over live alone. Peggy Maskrey: ‘I’d be brokenhearted if I ever had to stop coming here...it’s been my life’ THE Daily Express has set the agenda in crusading on behalf of elderly people in Britain today.
Here are some of the front pages where the paper has highlighted the issues affecting the age group.