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The Silver Line

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The Silver Line
Founded2012
FounderDame Esther Rantzen
Area served
United Kingdom
ServicesTelephone helpline for older people
Websitewww.thesilverline.org.uk

The Silver Line is a free confidential telephone helpline offering information, friendship and advice to older people in the United Kingdom.[1]

History

The helpline was established by Esther Rantzen, who founded the children's helpline ChildLine in 1986.[2] She wrote about her loneliness following the death of her husband Desmond Wilcox in 2000, and described loneliness among the elderly as "a creeping enemy" which "erodes confidence".[3]

Rantzen was invited to a conference addressing the isolation of elderly people held by the Campaign to End Loneliness and the Centre for Social Justice. This led to a meeting at the invitation of Paul Burstow MP in the Department of Health to discuss the creation of a helpline.[4]

Rantzen and Burstow are listed among the trustees of The Silver Line helpline.[5] Others include the CEO of Action on Elder Abuse, the CEO of Anchor Trust, the CEO of United Response, the Chair of Solicitors for the Elderly, Dr Alex McMinn of U3A, Lady Susan Chinn, Professor Patrick Geoghegan, and Colin Wagman, Deputy Chair of Delancey. The CEO of The Silver Line is Sophie Andrews. The helpline is a charity registered in the UK (Registered Charity no 1147330. Company No 8000807)

Objectives

The helpline aims to provide the following services:[6]

  • Offer information, friendship and advice
  • Link callers to local groups and services
  • Offer regular befriending calls
  • Protect and support those who are suffering abuse and neglect

Callers may be directed to organisations such as Contact the Elderly, Samaritans, WRVS or the Townswomen's Guild.[4]

Regional pilot

A 12-month pilot of the helpline service covering the North of England, the Isle of Man and Jersey was launched in November 2012.[7]

Initially the pilot was launched in Greater Manchester and the Isle of Man. However, funding from Comic Relief allowed an extension of the pilot to cover North East England and Jersey in 2013. 8,000 calls were answered during the pilot period, with the majority of callers aged between 60 and 80.[8]

The pilot was greeted positively by most of the major charities and other organisations working in the field of elderly care. However, the head of Age Concern in Jersey initially said she liked the concept, but a new UK-based charity helpline would be confusing and unnecessary for the island.[9] In fact the Jersey experience proved valuable not only in testing out ways of reaching the hardest-to-reach older people, but also by enabling them to call the helpline, in some calls revealing situations involving loneliness and abuse. Evaluated independently by the Centre for Social Justice, during the pilot period the helpline was found to have been transformational. One caller told the evaluation, "When I get off the phone I feel like I belong to the human race". Another said she no longer felt as if she had been "shuffled under the carpet." It was therefore launched nationally on November 25, 2013.

National launch

The Silver Line launched nationally on 25 November 2013.[3] Funding of £5 million was granted by the Big Lottery Fund, as part of their Dignity programme to provide services to older people who are isolated and lonely across the UK.[8] This will cover approximately half the costs of the first two years. The launch of the brand new service was widely covered in the media, especially on radio and television, throughout the day, culminating in a special feature on BBC's The One Show. This was in order to publicize the free, confidential telephone number 0800 4 70 80 90 which is now open 24/7 every day and night, including Christmas and the New Year.

To mark the launch, The Silver Line commissioned ComRes to conduct a survey into loneliness. Their findings can be extrapolated to a figure of 2.5 million older people (15%) feeling lonely often or all the time. 9 out of 10 said that the most effective remedy for loneliness is a chat on the telephone. However, since 84% said it is very difficult to admit to loneliness, even to members of their family because they do not wish to become a "burden", The Silver Line offers a general service of information, friendship and advice. The biggest single problem callers talk about is loneliness.

11,000 calls were received in the first two weeks following the national launch, settling into a rate of 500 new callers a day, many serious calls being received through the night. Up to one million calls are anticipated in the first year of operation. Staff and 3,000 volunteers will aim to operate a 24/7 service and offer befriending services to 12,000 older people.[10] The volunteers, "Silver Line Friends" will make regular calls, and in addition the helpline will create Silver Line Circles, regular conference calls discussing topics of interest.

The helpline is based in Blackpool and is operated by staff of the Fylde Coast Medical Services (FCMS), a provider of the NHS Direct service, who have been trained by The Silver Line.[11]

Silver Line Scotland is delivered by Age Scotland in partnership with The Silver Line.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Welcome". The Silver Line. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  2. ^ "Our Story". The Silver Line. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  3. ^ a b Philipson, Alice (2013-11-19). "Esther Rantzen: older people are not 'rubbish to be discarded'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  4. ^ a b Rantzen, Esther (2012-03-02). "My lifeline for the lonely: How Esther Rantzen is launching a new phoneline after being moved by Mail readers' letters". Mail Online. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  5. ^ "Our People". The Silver Line. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  6. ^ "What We Do". The Silver Line. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  7. ^ "Esther Rantzen launches 'phone friend' service for older people across Manchester". Manchester City Council. 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  8. ^ a b "Older people's £5 million Lottery silver lining". Big Lottery Fund. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  9. ^ "Jersey Age Concern head says elderly helpline 'confusing'". BBC News. 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  10. ^ Carter, Claire (2013-09-11). "Esther Rantzen launches 'Silver Line' helpline for lonely elderly". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  11. ^ "Blackpool call centre creates 100 Silver Line jobs". BBC News. 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  12. ^ "Silver Line Scotland". The Silver Line. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
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