Esther Rantzen's Silver Line to go live in 2013 to help combat loneliness and isolation in older people

Esther Rantzen’s The Silver Line, a telephone service which aims to support and empower older people and combat loneliness, has selected bss as one of its helpline partners.

The Silver Line will be piloted in Greater Manchester and the the Isle of Man in order to determine how widespread the need is for a service which provides advice, information and friendship for older people.

Esther Rantzen, CBE said: “Loneliness can be a difficult issue to talk about and that’s why we needed an organisation with experience of handling sensitive callers.

“It was great to have visited the bss contact centre in Manchester and meet the team who will manage this element of the Silver Line service.

Not only does the bss team have a fantastic track record of working with vulnerable callers, they are friendly, empathetic and approachable – precisely the skillset such a service needs.”

The Christmas period can be an increasingly lonely time for the 51 per cent of people aged over 75 who live alone.

The Silver Line can help by offering assistance and advice on local services. Its trained staff will also provide regular phone conversations to create friendship and companionship for older people suffering from isolation and loneliness.

The befriending service is being provided by specially trained staff and volunteers. They will make booked calls to older people who would welcome this service.

The Silver Line also aims to empower anyone who suffers from abuse or neglect and direct them to specialist services to protect them from harm where appropriate.

Dani Muir, sales and marketing director at bss said: “We feel privileged to have been selected by Esther Rantzen and The Silver Line team to support the launch of this much needed service.

“All our call advisers receive specialist training so callers feel reassured and receive the very best information, advice and guidance.

“In addition, our performance over profit philosophy gives every client the confidence that our solutions are not just robust, but reliable and delivers effective results along with valuable savings.”

Loneliness has been shown to shorten life, create depression, hasten the onset of dementia and cause physical effects such as malnutrition.

The Silver Line is expected to go live nationwide in the summer of 2013 with the 3 month pilot being funded by Comic Relief.

bss will be responsible for the the management of The Silver Line helpline between 8am-8pm Monday to Friday from its contact centre in Manchester.

Last month the centre won the best solution at the North West Contact Centre Awards. bss’s not for profit clients include British Heart Foundation, Children 1st and Mind.