In line with International Day of Older Persons on Sunday October 1, Contact the Elderly (now Re-engage) are proud to announce the launch of our 2016-17 Impact Report, which showcases our ongoing commitment to, and progress in, tackling loneliness and social isolation among older people, as well as some key statistics on the vital service we provide.

The new Impact Report reveals that for 76% of our older guests, Sunday is the loneliest day of the week. Local services and public transport are sometimes closed or reduced on this day, often leaving those who live alone more isolated than any other day of the week. This is where Contact the Elderly can make a real difference: thanks to our monthly Sunday tea parties, 95% of our older guests say they now have something to look forward to. Notably, our research also shows that three-quarters of guests say they feel less lonely and 3 in 5 believe that their general wellbeing has improved as a direct result of involved in a Contact the Elderly group.

(If you'd like to find out whether any of our tea party groups are happening near you, go to our Locations page.)

The launch of this research ties in with the UN initiative International Day of Older Persons, a day dedicated to celebrating and supporting older people in every community. At Contact the Elderly, we support over 5,500 older people a month through our simple model of free monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties; the research showcased in our new Impact Report demonstrates clearly just how crucial this support can be.

You can read the new Impact Report in full here (PDF) and find out more about International Day of Older Persons here.