One of the great mysteries of the modern age is that we have never been more interconnected. We’ve never had more access to information and to modes of immediate communication – and yet, we’ve never been lonelier. We are, some say, living through a loneliness epidemic. In the UK, it’s been predicted that more than two million people aged over 50 are expected to be experiencing loneliness by the year 2025. Half a million older people may not see or speak to anyone for up to six days a week, nearly 60 per cent of people aged 85 and over live alone, and two-fifths of older people admit that the TV is their primary company. This loneliness phenomenon is evident in many
