Captain Sir Tom Moore joins Age UK and Cadbury campaign to help tackle COVID loneliness

Captain Sir Tom Moore has collaborated with Age UK and Cadbury’s ‘Donate Your Words’ campaign to encourage everyone in the UK to start a meaningful conversation with an older person to help tackle loneliness.

Captain Moore who first came into the spotlight when he raised over £32 million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden during lockdown earlier this year is launching a new podcast to tackle isolation among older people.

The podcast, called The Originals, is part of a campaign by charity Age UK and Cadbury which aims to inspire people up and down the country to have a meaningful conversation with an older person, with social isolation especially among the elderly worsening during the COVID-19 crisis.

Captain Moore said: “I hope The Originals podcast will help encourage everyone to start a proper conversation with an older person. We truly are the originals and we have more in common than you may think, we have hundreds of amazing tales just waiting to be told.”

His podcast interviewees include Winston Garvey, an 83-year-old bodybuilder who still lifts weights three times a week, and Rose Knox-Peebles, a 79-year-old writer and art collector, who reveals how she kissed Elvis Presley.

According to Age UK, 225,000 older people typically go for a week without speaking to anyone, while more than six million older people say just a few minutes of conversation makes a difference to them.

Laurie Boult, the fundraising director at Age UK said: “We are hearing through our advice lines that since the outbreak many older people are feeling anxious, depressed and lonely.

“The effects of loneliness can be devastating; we know it is a threat to our physical and mental health, and that it can also increase the risk of developing dementia.

“It’s so hard for many older people to stay connected at the moment, especially if they live alone, and we’re delighted to be working with Cadbury and Captain Tom on this campaign to raise awareness of this heart-breaking issue.”

It is the latest venture for the World War Two veteran who was knighted by the Queen, broke two Guinness world records, scored a No. 1 single, wrote a book and has signed a deal to film a biopic of his life.