IT’S hard for any of us with families and busy lives to imagine a time of living in near-silence, when no-one calls and we might not talk to anyone for days.

Sadly, in 2014 that is still the plight of many thousands of elderly people living in ordinary towns like Bolton and Bury. Fortunately, there is at least one organisation that addresses this and does something remarkable about it.

Contact the Elderly was started in Bolton 40 years ago by a lady called Elsie Howarth. It had actually begun life 10 years earlier in London when Trevor Lyttleton realised that lonely older residents living near him would love to enjoy a regular outing and meet other people.

Groups of volunteers were set up,  prepared to take older people to another volunteer’s home where the host would provide tea for all concerned.

Joan Anderson was drawn to this simple, effective idea when it first started in Bolton so she volunteered, and ended up running the local groups. She’s still doing that today, and knows how important these sociable outings really are, recognising that older people living alone – probably without family or friends nearby  - love this inter-action and making new friends. “They often start taking an interest in their appearance again” is one observation.

We know about Contact the Elderly in our house because, when my daughters were very young, we started being the “hostess” of a once-yearly tea for “our ladies” - most of the lonely elderly are female.

Our girls are grown-up with lives, and children, of their own now but this was an early introduction into helping others and both the girls and the guests benefitted from this pleasant meeting of the ages.

They served food, happily chatted, and gentle friendships were formed. They tell me they remember the time with warmth and affection and their presence certainly livened up the proceedings! It was an annual event to which we all looked forward, and I can tell you genuinely that any hard work was more than offset by the pleasure of our guests at just being there.

The charity needs more volunteers to give just a couple of hours of their time once a month or to host a tea once a year, and there is a waiting-list of older people wanting to experience that enjoyable event. Anyone who can help should contact Joan Anderson on 01204 63095.