THE Inner Wheel Club of Hereford Wye Valley was delighted to welcome Sophie Andrews, chief executive officer of The Silver Line to their annual district lunch.

Following the great success of Childline this charity was launched by Dame Esther Rantzen DBE in 2013 and celebrates its fifth birthday on November 25, 2018.

As Dame Esther wrote in June 2018 "The Silver Line Helpline has revealed a truth about older people which is just as shocking as that revealed by Childline. Many do not want to admit to loneliness, or ask for help. They don't want to be a burden and this has meant that the deep unhappiness created by loneliness has been ignored."

President Liz Hodgkinson said "It was a great pleasure to welcome Sophie and learn more about the work of The Silver Line particularly as one of our club members, Eileen Hammond, is one of The Silver Line trustees."

Funded entirely by donations The Silver Line offers the only confidential free 24 hour support line for those aged 55 and over across the UK. A specially trained helpline team offers:

• information, friendship and advice.

• details of links to local groups and services.

• regular friendship calls.

• protection and support for older people who are suffering abuse and neglect.

In addition to the helpline they have trained over 4000 volunteer Silver Line Friends who offer both telephone and letter friendship.

They also operate Silver Circles, facilitated group calls where people with shared interests can discuss topics that interest them with a wider group and their Silver Connects team provides older people with more intensive support, advice, and help with connecting to local services.

All these services are completely free. In July 2018 the charity took their two millionth call.

Further information about the charity can be found on their website thesilverline.org.uk or you can call the helpline on 0800 4708090.