Do our Friends keep Us going in our 80s?

Yes

I’M going to be honest, I wouldn’t know where I’d be without my network of close friends (“Old friends could ward off dementia”, November 3).

Born during the Second World War, we grew up as a group, went to school, found work together and luckily didn’t spread our wings further than three streets away.

The bond we share is incredible and I’m convinced that now we are all living in some form of sheltered accommodation, the ongoing friendship is the only part of our lives that keeps us feeling young.

I chat to my best friend Ethel and it’s like we’re teenagers again. Sarah Kirkham,

Preston, Lancs

No

I WOULD like to offer a slightly different slant on the piece you ran on the importance of having friends in your senior years.

The most heartbreaking part of growing old for me has to be outliving lifelong friends.

If I had my own way I’d have been the first of the gang to go, if only to save me the pain of saying goodbye to my pals, one by one.

As each old buddy passes on my life feels that bit emptier.

They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all but losing a loved one leaves a massive hole in your life. Sidney Martin,

Birmingham