2025 is off to a roaring start for the whole Re-engage team, with exciting plans to extend the services we offer and reach more older people who are living with loneliness.

Part of our plans are to try to influence policy and decision makers, so we can reduce loneliness for older people who aren’t in our services. Recently, the charity Age International, which promotes the rights of older people, delivered an open letter signed by us, many other campaign groups, and thousands of members of the public, calling on the UK government to champion the creation of a UN Convention of the Rights of the Older Person. This legal framework would protect older people’s rights, no matter where they live in the world. We support this because we want to see a future where older people’s rights are fully recognised and protected.

To back this up, we work to understand the issues affecting older people, carry out research into key areas of interest, and use data and findings to help explain what we’ve discovered. This helps us continue to improve the services we offer and be a part of the wider conversation around older people – you can find out more about our Research Hub in the latest issue of e-news. (If you’re not already a subscriber, why not sign up to our emails?)

We also ask our older people, volunteers and referrers for their views regularly, including through our annual survey which we’ll launch later this month. This survey has helped us understand how being supported by our services makes people feel, and how it positively affects their wellbeing. According to this recent article in The Independent newspaper, data from the NHS shows more than six in 10 people in the UK aged 65 or over have experienced depression and anxiety. Of these, more than half didn’t seek help. While we would never claim our services could replace health services or medical treatment, we do know that eight out of 10 older people feel happier as a result of attending one of our tea parties, and 70% feel happier after joining an activity group. A similar percentage of volunteers told us they feel happier as a result of volunteering with us.

One of our services that we’re very proud of is Rainbow Call Companions, which is designed to support older people who identify as LGBT+, and who want friendship and support from a phone companion. A few weeks ago, we launched a drive to highlight the service and sign up more older people. One aspect which makes Rainbow Call Companions unique is that all volunteers identify as LGBT+ too, which we strongly believe creates a reassuring and welcoming space for like-minded people to speak, with the aim of reducing loneliness.

And to finish on a cultural note: I know our volunteers are a talented bunch, and I was absolutely thrilled to see volunteer driver Lorna take centre stage recently on the BBC’s prime-time programme ‘Michael McIntyre’s Big Show’ – if you missed her, here’s Lorna sharing how it felt to sing in the West End.