Older people set-up support networks during Coronavirus lockdown

Older people across the UK have been setting up their own support networks during the Coronavirus lockdown in a bid to support each other.

These initiatives have seen older people set-up their own telephone and online networks and then sharing quizzes, emails, daily jokes and uplifting news stories from across the globe.

The aim of the networks is to help older people fight loneliness during this global pandemic as like-minded people keep in regular contact with each other. This has especially helped older people who have mobility problems and need aids like stairlifts and scooters to get around as they can get involved in quizzes and other games from the comfort of their sofa.

In an article on the Guardian, Dr Geoff Foot, who is in his 80s, said he has been emailing out a joke every morning to his network of friends.

“I do it to motivate and cheer them up a bit. It seems to be working as I now have a bank of about 40 jokes ready to send out over the coming weeks.

“All these jokes have been supplied by members and so, in a sense, I’m acting as a focal point for distribution.”

Other activities older people have set-up for their friends include a telephone rota where people call a different person each day and weekly quizzes via Zoom, while others have offered their services to become a local volunteer offering support over the phone.

Geraldine and George have been creating quizzes for their friends and they told the Guardian: “We then spend the weekend writing a quiz for our friends and then we all hold a Zoom meeting on a Monday and pretend we’re in our local, having a pub quiz. We even joke about whose turn it is to go to the bar and buy the next round.”