The Silver Line helpline receives an average of 10,000 calls every week from vulnerable and isolated older people - a number which increases over the Christmas period.
Since it started operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week in 2013, it has received more than 1.6 million calls.
Last Christmas The Silver Line was inundated with calls from vulnerable and isolated older people. Due to a lack of funding, it struggled to answer more than 5,000.
To raise awareness of the helpline's plight, content and media agency 72Point has today launched the 'Start a Conversation' campaign to help The Silver Line to answer every single call this year.
They have created a video to encourage people to connect with others and start a conversation before it's too late.
Nina Gopal, Director of Fundraising at The Silver Line, said: “We’re a relatively new organisation and entirely charity funded. Every £5 enables us to answer a call from a vulnerable and isolated older person who needs to hear a friendly voice.
“This video shows the difference a phone call can make. The Silver Line is there when all other services have closed down for Christmas.”
Sixty-eight per cent of callers contact The Silver Line because they feel lonely or isolated, with 90 per cent living alone. More than half have no-one else to speak to.
