General News Hundreds of thousands of UK elderly call hotline with "no one else to talk to"

I do this...
GlamourGals Foundation, Inc
The ladies I meet are wonderful. Some are sweet, some are inappropriate, and some just want someone to talk to. I wish I could do more for such amazing people but there's not much I can do as a student.

 

I think we need to encourage the elderly to remain active and involved. Retirement, old age and widowhood does not render a person useless. I'd like to see more people of older age involved in the voluntary and community sector, where they can continue to make a worthwhile contribution and maintain the social connections that are so vital.

 

I volunteer for the gay helpline here in Montreal. Calls from the elderly are definitely on the increase, and they are just as alone, if not more so for various reasons.

Very often, when an elderly LGBT person calls, they just want to chat, either to reminisce about what their neighbourhood used to be like, or to talk about deceased partners, etc. They usually end the call knowing that nothing needed to be resolved, but grateful to have someone to chat with for the usual 20 minutes.

The government here is beginning to recognize the special needs of the LGBT elderly, but there are woefully few resources for many of them. Many, in order to get along with regular old-folk homes, will go back into the closet...a terrible way to spend the autumn of one's years...

 

This I think.

At the moment it feels we have a culture where the norm is people live their lives in their youth, and then in their old age they retire and essentially feel they have to quietly "get out the way". It is almost like we are encouraged to stop living once we get to a certain point (say age 70+).

I also think a problem is not having hobbies (perhaps a remnant from the post-war times where hobbies were seen as being as just frivalous activities?) - that my be why there is such a disconnect between the young and the old, both groups feel they don't have a lot in common when in fact we would likely learn and benefit from each other.