The charity ALONE is encouraging the public to support older people in their communities this Christmas, as feelings of loneliness can be heightened by the holiday period.

CEO Sean Moynihan told Newstalk Breakfast that many people are still suffering the effects of COVID-19 on their mental and physical health.

“Obviously it’s a tale of two sets of groups,” he said.

“Sometimes there’ll be plenty of older people hosting Christmas dinners, running the whole miles, doing all types of things – but, unfortunately, there’s a large percentage of older people who do live on their own, who struggle with poor housing, poor connection and poor health.”

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According to Mr Moynihan, even spending five or ten minutes with someone can make the world of difference to them.

“Whereas we’ve got around 5,000 volunteers across the country supporting older people, the reality is a huge amount of people need that support,” he said.

“Where we’ll be doing our best bit delivering 1,900 Christmas dinners on Christmas Day, reaching out to thousands of older people, the reality is, the scales of loneliness are huge.

“So, what people can do is actually share their want – and what that means is, reach out to the older people in their community, on the road, in their extended family.”

Services available year-round

Mr Moynihan said that ALONE has services available every day of the year.

“What we do is, whether it’s supporting people around housing, health, finance or loneliness, if there’s any older person struggling this year, we never close, 365, 12 hours a day, we’re here,” he said.

“Ultimately, we’re encouraging older people to reach out to us if they need support and they’ll make Christmas and next year better.”

He also called on members of the public to consider volunteering with the charity next year.

Main image: A man walks down the street, 19-2-17. Image: Ciprian Morariu / Alamy