During October and November, our charity - Linking Lives UK – ran a campaign called the Loneliness Lock-In. The campaign provided the opportunity and challenge for participants to spend up to 24 hours on their own with no interaction with others either directly or by telephone. To add to the challenge, there was also limited access to wifi and no use of electronic gadgets! The idea was to enable those taking part to gain a greater understanding of the reality of loneliness for those experiencing it on a daily basis.

There was also an added dimension in which funds could be raised for Linking Lives UK through sponsorship.

Feedback from the campaign has been positive and many of those taking part have written powerful reflections (including one poem!) explaining ways in which they were impacted and challenged. Almost £4,000 was also raised for the work of Linking Lives in the process.

We often hear at this time about the numbers of people - estimated between 250,000 and 450,000 - who will spend Christmas Day alone this year. These figures are, in 21st century Britain, deeply saddening and a sorry reflection of the society in which we now live.

With many extended families now living many miles from one another and often relying on telephone or video conferencing to stay in contact, we are living in an increasingly 'virtual world' in which physical company is becoming a bonus rather than the norm.

This is also, ironically, reflected in the relatively high number of volunteers available to assist in running many Christmas Day meals for those who would otherwise be eating alone. Many of these volunteers may well be secretly anxious about feelings of loneliness and social isolation themselves.

So what can we as Christians and members of the church community do to play our part in alleviating loneliness and social isolation this Christmas?

As we are once again reminded of the way in which the person Jesus quietly entered the world without fanfare, there are a variety of opportunities for us all to take a moment to look around us for those who may have been forgotten
or have few friends or family around them.

These range from organised events through to informal ways to express God's love through neighbourliness, care, practical help and concern.

Christmas meals

There are meals being provided on or around Christmas Day in many locations across the country, often run by churches and other community groups. National charity Re-Engage (previously Contact the Elderly) now hosts a website with information about many of these meals.

'Plus One for Christmas'

Look out for someone in your church or street who could benefit from an invitation to share a Christmas meal with you. Pray for opportunities to open your home in this way. (Do, though, take care to protect your own safety either by inviting at least one other person you trust if you live alone).

Send an extra card

If you have a spare Christmas card (or two) could you make someone's day in your street by delivering a card through their door? Avon and Somerset Police have launched an initiative encouraging residents to do just that. This is because last Christmas this force alone received 17,000 calls during a two week period, in which the
reason was related to loneliness!

Pray

If you are unable to get involved in any of these activities and ideas, please do pray for those for whom Christmas is a particularly challenging and painful time of the year due to bereavement or relationship breakdown.

Jeremy Sharpe is National Director of Linking Lives UK, a Christian charity working across the UK with churches and Christian organisations to establish befriending projects which engage with socially isolated older people. For more information go to www.linkinglives.uk