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Everyone wants to find companionship, and that desire doesn’t change as you age. However, as your preferences and needs evolve over time, and as life experiences sculpt you for better and for worse, finding companionship later in life may feel slightly different.

Acute loneliness and social isolation are one of the biggest challenges our society is facing, with older people being particularly vulnerable. Loneliness can and does affect anyone, at any age, however, no other age group feels the effects of loneliness more than the elderly.

According to Age UK¹, more than two million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go over a month without speaking to family members, friends or neighbours.

To try and combat this, relatives of aging adults are often turning to the support of retirement villages and communities like Richmond Villages. Here, they have the option to live independently, with assistance or with full care, depending on their needs and desires. The villages are full of like-minded individuals all of similar ages, who have too felt the effects of loneliness.

Richmond Villages Wood Norton resident Keith who moved into the retirement village with his wife, has found friendships with other residents particularly helpful following her passing in 2020. Keith said; “My wife and I moved to Richmond Villages Wood Norton in August 2019 before lockdown.

“I have made a lot of very good friends here and I join in all the activities I am interested in and some I’m not. “My wife died in October 2020 and everyone here, staff and residents have been so kind and supportive.

“There is always so much going on to interest one and the countryside around is so beautiful why would one not want to live here. It’s just like living in a 5* hotel with all the amenities that one would expect of such a place.

“I have since found a lovely lady who also likes it so much that she moved into the apartment next to mine. It’s such a wonderful place to be, a permanent holiday with everything done for me, what else could I ask for?

All the villages are equipped with extensive activities and events calendars which all residents are welcome to join, these range from fitness classes, arts and crafts, coffee mornings, and regular visits from musicians to speakers, and primary schools, plus so much more.

To find out more about retirement living at Richmond Villages visit www.richmond-villages.com

^{1 Loneliness research and impact | Age UK}