Katrina
Cadbury Dairy Milk has announced a partnership with Age UK in order to help combat loneliness.
Launching a campaign called ‘Donate Your Words’, the UK’s number one chocolate brand has removed the words from its iconic Dairy Milk chocolate bars, with the aim of alleviating loneliness amongst older people. 30p from each bar sold will go towards Age UK to help provide vital services and support to older people.
Furthermore, the campaign is also designed to encourage us to donate our words by pledging to reach out to older people in our communities. This can include checking in on an older relative or neighbour, starting a conversation with an older person or volunteering with Age UK.
In startling statistics, over 225,000 elderly people often go a week without speaking to anyone at all, whilst almost 2.6 million people age 65 and over will only get to speak to three or fewer people they know.
As revealed by Cadbury Dairy Milk and Age UK, new research confirms that almost 4.5 million older people have felt lonely during later life. Over half a million of those who’ve been lonely say that it stops them from going about their daily life.
It seems that the smallest of gestures can help to play a part in tackling loneliness amongst older people, and we are encouraged to engage in a few minutes of conversation, smile, say hello or ask someone how their day has been.
Laura Gray, Brand Manager at Mondelez said “We’re so proud to announce this partnership and to be supporting Age UK – it’s such an important charity that is really tackling the issue of loneliness. We are donating the words from our bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk and encouraging people up and down the country to donate theirs through small gestures that could really help change the lives of older people.”
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: “Loneliness is a huge problem because retirement, bereavement & ill health mean many older people find they are spending a lot less time enjoying the company of others than they’d like.
“Loneliness can affect your health, your wellbeing and the way you see yourself – it can make you feel invisible and forgotten. Working with Cadbury Dairy Milk on this campaign could really help to raise even more awareness of the issue and encourage everybody to do their bit to help tackle it.
“A friendly “hello” or “how are you?” is something most of us take for granted – it’s just part of every day life, but these latest figures show that hundreds of thousands of older people in the UK will spend today and the rest of this week alone, with no one to share even a few simple words with. That’s why Age UK’s expert advice and support services are so crucial and help people in all sorts of ways, every day of the year.”
The special bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk are available in stores now. For more information on the ‘Donate Your Words’ campaign, click here.
