Winter loneliness and Christmas alone
Age UK's polling of over 2,600 people aged 65 and over found 1.5 million older people across the UK will spend Christmas Day alone this year, 11% will eat Christmas dinner on their own, and 5% will have no contact with anyone at all that day. Cold weather is also a real physical risk on its own, raising the risk of hypothermia, heart attack, stroke, chest infections and falls. UKHSA runs a Cold-Health Alert system with the Met Office every winter from 1 November to 31 March, a signal that cold has reached a level that causes real harm to older people.
Three money schemes help automatically for most people: the Winter Fuel Payment (born on or before 27 June 1960, £100 to £300), the Warm Home Discount (£150 off an electricity bill, reopening October 2026), and the Cold Weather Payment (£25 for every 7 day sub-zero spell, for qualifying benefit claimants). The days either side of Christmas Day are often harder than the day itself, once visiting family go home and the ordinary quiet returns.
AirCarers Companion is help before care. Companions are not carers and do not provide personal care, medication or anything clinical. We work across Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and the SG11 to SG14 and EN10 to EN11 postcodes. Visits start at one hour, from £25 an hour. Call 07455 750006 or email lucie@aircarers.co.uk.