The ‘Hear for You’ telephone help service set up by Age Concern Slough and East Berkshire in response to the Coronavirus crisis has been inundated with calls of help from the elderly and their families.

CEO Tereena Davies, said her team dealt with 500 calls over the first two weeks and they had to call on more of their staff to help.

Many examples come to mind

She said: "Joy saw the newspaper article on Age Concern and was delighted to hear about the charity which she says has been a lifeline as she has no living relatives or contact with anyone under 70. Joy is now getting a regular phone call three times a week and says it’s the only thing that is keeping her going.

"Fey lives in a third floor flat and doesn’t have access to outside and was desperate for some shopping that the charity arranged.

"Amal didn’t know about the phone line until her son mentioned it, and now Amal and Niki speak every few days."

Because of the difficulties some of the elderly people are facing, the charity has also set up a new service called To You From Us where it delivers boxes of food to the elderly.

Tereena said: “It has been difficult to buy some of the goods, so Emma and the team are making home made cakes to distribute in the boxes too.

"The husband of a member of staff from our retail team bought and donated 300 eggs so we would be able to make cakes for the elderly this week."

But Age Concern Slough and East Berkshire is facing major problems itself - as all its fund raising stores have had to close because of CORVID-19.

Tereena is appealing for donations from the public. Visit www.ageconcernsabe.org.uk or call 01753 497887.