22 Days, 20 hours and 11 minutes till Christmas..

Just seen a report on the BBC about how Internet shopping has got the high street shops concerned for their Christmas profits this year. Call me old fashioned but unless I have seen an item in the flesh before, it's highly unlikely that I'll risk buying it off the Internet. If I do, and it's not right, I tend to ignore sending it back until the time elapsed makes it ridiculous to do so and it gets shoved in a draw...surely I'm not alone on this one?

A much more serious concern are the reports that pensioners can't afford their fuel bills. Why hasn't the government raised their allowance? It's not as if the current price rises have crept up on them. It is truly appalling that this country gives more money to immigrants waiting for their applications to be processed than we do our older generation. Show some respect Mr Blair!

Show your support and visit http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/



There are many causes of loneliness in older people but loss of income, fear of crime, poor health or the death of a partner can all contribute to isolation.

One million older people spend Christmas Day alone.

Three quarters of a million older people in the UK regularly experience isolation and loneliness.

Over a quarter of a million older people never go out.

About 4.6 million, nearly half of our older population, consider the television to be their main form of company.

Nearly half a million older people never see their friends, while 1.8 million only see their family once a month.

10% of older people never see their grandchildren or even speak to them on the telephone.

All facts taken from the GFK/NOP survey commissioned for Help the Aged 2005