The only cure for loneliness is company, and older people across Nottinghamshire know this better than anyone.
Around 39,000 older people in the county are in contact with family, friends and neighbours less than once a week.
And with over half of all people aged 75 or over living alone - equivalent to 41,000 people in the county - that leaves a lot of hours to be whiled away with no-one to talk to.
However, Age UK Notts has launched a campaign to end loneliness in older people and is running a number of schemes to try and take those who live alone out of isolation and back into a community that cares.
One such scheme is the visiting service. It aims to provide a regular volunteer visitor to older people at home, particularly those who are lonely, frail or housebound. The service is free, confidential and independent and Age UK does its best to match you with the best person to share interests.
Keith Sharpe, 55 from Warren Hill in Arnold, is one of the volunteers.
He grew up in Carlton and now owns his own packaging business, but he has always taken an interest in helping others, previously volunteering at Sanford Hospital to work with handicapped children.
"The reason I signed up for the volunteering scheme is I wanted to give back," said Mr Sharpe. "You get to a certain age and realise so far it has all been about me and it is time for a change.
"I especially wanted to help older people. These people are lonely with no-one doing a lot for them. I think they get a very bad deal nowadays."
Mr Sharpe sadly lost his 96-year-old father in January, leaving his mother Dora, 93, on her own.
"We now have a situation where someone has to look after my mum," he said. "I try and I help out, but my brother, who is a retired teacher and personal tutor, has been able to move in."
"So she has my brother, she has me, and it is very different. But some people don't have that support at all and some people don't have anyone."
Mr Sharpe spoke of one lady he visited who lives alone and had become so disillusioned, she threatened to take her own life.
"She had been having a really rough few weeks," he said. "When she visited the hairdressers, they got perming solution in her eye so her eyesight suffered for a couple of weeks."
"When I spoke to her she said all she had left was her garden and if she couldn't see that, she didn't see the point in living."
He sat with her and calmed her down, then called after he left to make sure she was OK.
"Older people end up in these situations where they are so lonely and never expected it," he said. "She has got no-one but just think, we could all end up there."
"We need to focus more on these people and stop them from being forgotten."
In the time Mr Sharpe has been volunteering, he has already made a difference to the lives of those he has supported.
Irene Catherall, 84, from Southglade Park, was visited by Keith once a week after her husband passed away.
"Irene does have support from her daughters and good neighbours but she was really down because of the loss of her husband and I helped her through the worst part," he said.
"What I tried to do was take her mind off of it. I decided to try out showing her pictures on an iPad. I know technology isn't normally something old people are interested in but she loved it! Now she does email, Skype's her daughter in America, she is even on Facebook!"
Seeing the improvement in Mrs Catherall is just an example to Mr Sharpe of why the scheme is so worthwhile.
"I would say to anyone considering it, definitely do it," he said. "You get a real sense of fulfillment.
"I never knew I would get this feeling but when you see that you have made a difference, even a small one, to someone's life and if you know some is happier now than they were, it is just fantastic."
Age UK Notts' Campaign to End Loneliness hopes to get 1,000 pledges by the end of June with people promising to offer their time to family, friends and neighbours.
Whether you want to volunteer for the visiting service or just promise to call an elderly relative more, Age UK Notts wants you to get in touch.
Mick Tinkler, chief executive at Age UK Notts, said: "It is through our volunteer's compassion and kind heartedness that our charity is able to help so many older people and without people like Keith our Visiting Service could not function."
"I hope our Campaign to End Loneliness and Keith's story has inspired people to volunteer or to make a pledge; together we can make a difference."
To find out more, call Age UK Notts on 0115 844 0011.
