Our story

The Silver Line Helpline provides three functions to support older people:

•  a sign-posting service to link them into the many, varied services that exist around the country
•  a befriending service to combat loneliness
• a means of empowering those who may be suffering abuse and neglect, if appropriate to transfer them to specialist services to protect them from harm

Since our national launch, The Silver Line Helpline has received over 1.4 million calls. Over two-thirds of these calls were made overnight or at weekends when no other helpline is available for older people who may be lonely, isolated or confused. We now receive around 10,000 calls every week from lonely and isolated older people; with 53% of callers saying they have literally no-one else to speak to.

Over 3,000 volunteer Silver Line Friends are making regular weekly friendship calls to older people.  We have launched Silver Circles, group calls for people with shared interests, and have started Silver Letters for people who prefer the written word or are hearing impaired.

We rely entirely on voluntary donations to cover the cost of calls to the helpline, The Silver Line’s friendship services, and all other costs.