Make time for a chat

WE have never been both more connected and more isolated as a society. The rise of social media means many of us have countless “friendships” with people online but how many of us maintain these relationships at the cost of spending time with people in the real world?

Many of you will recognise the picture of a nuclear family, sitting in the same room, interacting with mobile phones and tablets rather than each other.

But no matter how much pleasure we may get from social media, there are times when only good oldfashioned personal contact will do, especially when it comes to elderly people who live alone.

So we welcome Age Scotland’s plans to make daily phone calls to vulnerable elderly people to check on their wellbeing and – and this, we suspect, will be the most valuable part of the service – have a chat.

Loneliness is crippling and it might come to us all as someone once at the centre of a family or social circle can quickly end up alone. Age Scotland’s “Good Day Calls” scheme could make a huge difference to the lives of elderly people who currently feel forgotten.