2020-03-14 The Week Junior

24

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The Week Junior• 14 March2020

D

oyou or yourfamily knowan elderlyper

who may feel lonely?Perhapsyouhave

grandparentwhodoesn’t livenearby and

who might not see many people.It’sthough

therecouldbe morethanamillion lonely

older people in theUKwho often feel sad.

This might be because they live alone

they might be inacarehome and ha

gotfamily or friends who visit.

Simply writingalettercanhelp to

cheerthem up.It’saneasy thing to

do butcanmakeabig impact. Being

able to writeaninteresting letter is

alsoagood skill becausealot of

moderncommunication is written

sent by digital messaging and email.

Everyday things that you do,such

as what you learned at school, sporting

achievements or places you visit, might

seem ordinary to you but an older

person would be happy toread about

letter.Itcouldmakethemthinkback to when

ereyounger and did similar things. The person

want to write back to you.

ereissomething very special about

ivingahandwritten letter which

nbrighten up the day and makea

ugedifferencetoolder people who

refeeling lonely,” says Caroline

brahams from the Age UK charity.

etter writing isadying art, so

efully you will enjoy it as well.”

vrilLethbridge, aged 87, set up

groupcalled Silver Robin, which

as helped children from six

schools in Oxfordtobegin writing

etters to older people. “It’salovely

ing to do andconnects different

tions.Loneliness is notanice

fayoung person’sletter

le on someone’sface, then

derful.”

s n them i

th

ma als

“T

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a

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Write to elderly people

Learn more...

●Reengage isacharity that

workstosupport lonely older

people.Visit reengage.org.uk

to find out more.

● Find out how to set out your

letter at tinyurl.com/TWJ-letter

WhatdoIneed?

Plain paper or writing paper,

envelopes and stamps. Askfamily

or friends if theycancollect or

donate unwanted items likethis

to you. If you have any decorative

coloured pens or gel pens, use

them to makeyour letter even

moreinteresting.

Howelse canIhelp?

Thereareotherways to help elderly

people feel less lonely.Forexample,

knowing the date of their birthday

means youcansendacard. Saying

hello and being nicetopeople in

your street, checking on them with

yourfamily or knocking on their

door sometimes just to see how

they arecan makeadifference.

HOW, WHAT,

WHERE?

GET

TY IMAGES

·REX SHUTTERSTOCK

Helptacklelonelinessasyou...

“A LETTER

ISMORE

PERSONAL”

etowrite

ters to my

randpa because

don’t get to see

masoften as I

uld likeandhe’s

not nearby.Even

thoughIcan

message him electronically,

writingaletter is morepersonal.

Itell him what’sgoing on and

often ask him questions. He

writes back as well.”

Jack

“I li

le

I

h

wo

Jack writing

alette r.

Where do Istart?

Ask your parents if there’san

elderlyrelative orfamily friend you

canwrite to and theycanhelp you

get started.Your teacher may like

to makecontactwithalocal elderly

carehome soyour classcanbegin

writing letters. The leaders of your

Scout, Cub,Brownie or Guide group

maywant to get involved too.

and

a

’s

g

th

th