Co-Op and Red Cross team up to fight loneliness this Christmas season
THE CO-OP supermarket has joined forces with the Red Cross to launch a campaign to combat loneliness this Christmas.
Co-Op is teaming up with Red Cross to tackle the growing problem of social isolation
The British Red Cross is well known for its work in running first aid courses and responding to international crises.
However, in this country a major part of its work is helping the growing number of people whose lives are affected by social isolation.
The last time the two teamed up to tackle a crisis was at the end of the Second World War.
The two teamed up previously at the end of World War II
The Co-operative raised funds for the charity from sales of its own brand tea.
We can use the presence we have in over 3,750 communities in the UK to help tackle these issues at a local level
Richard Pennycook, Co-op group chief executive, said: “We can use the presence we have in over 3,750 communities in the UK to help tackle these issues at a local level.”
A “poster boy” for the new campaign could be sprightly pensioner Joe Bartley, a widowed former servicemen who is due to start working in a cafe today in Paignton, Devon, at the age of 89.
Red Cross delivers bottled water to Flint residents
The campaign aims to help people who will spend Christmas by themselves
Bored and lonely in his one-bedroom flat, Joe took out an advert in his local paper saying he was desperate for a job.
A British Red Cross spokesman said: “There are thousands of people like Joe in the community and we want to help them.”