Help us relieve loneliness this Christmas

Help us relieve loneliness this Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner – a time for family and togetherness – but I’d like to ask your readers to think about those for whom Christmas will be a very lonely time indeed.

Millions of people in the UK are disabled or care for a disabled loved one. We know that disabled people and carers are affected much more than most by social isolation and loneliness, but now new research has told us just how serious and widespread this problem is.

Over half of disabled people feel lonely and, according to GPs, loneliness can be as dangerous as having a chronic health condition.

Revitalise is already working hard to relieve the loneliness of thousands of disabled people and carers each year by providing respite breaks, both at Christmas and all through the year.  Our breaks give our guests the much-needed chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones, thus warding off the worst effects of loneliness in their lives.

But we also know that poverty is a major factor in social isolation and recent research indicates this is getting worse, not better. 3 out of 10 households with a disabled member are now living in poverty, and in response to this we have increased our hardship funding four-fold in the past five years.

The average British family spends an astonishing £821 each year on Christmas. If you donate only a tiny fraction of this money to Revitalise, you will be making a real difference to the lives of disabled people and carers everywhere. Isn’t this what Christmas is supposed to be all about? Please visit www.revitalise.org.uk  and support our Christmas Appeal.

Colin Brook, Revitalise