Specialist holiday company, Alfa Travel, has marked Loneliness Awareness Week (June 10-14) by raising more than £25,000 to help Re-engage, a charity supporting older people.
Alfa Travel has been inviting guests and anyone who lives near its 24 hotels in the UK to join in a night of fun, including Juke Box karaoke and stand-up Bingo. Those taking part are also being entered in a monthly draw for £250 of holiday vouchers. One of the winners booked their break through Barnes Travel in Liverpool.
So far, 8,600 tickets have been sold for the entertainment evenings at nearly 400 events, which will carry on throughout the year.
Emma Russell, Managing Director at Alfa Travel, which specialises in holidays for those aged 65 and over, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with a charity that supports a cause that’s been so close to our hearts for such a long time.
“As the UK’s only employee-owned travel group, we view our customers as extensions of our own Alfa Travel family, so it’s important to us that we work with a charity that best benefits our customers.
“Our Re-engage nights have proved incredibly popular with lots of passers-by joining-in. It’s been a great experience for everyone.”
One holidaymaker at the Cavendish Hotel on Exmouth’s The Esplanade, said: ‘Re-engage sounds like a fantastic charity. So many older people are lonely, it’s great we can help by having fun playing these games while we’re on holiday.”
Re-engage, which aims to reduce loneliness and isolation among those aged 75 and over, runs free monthly tea parties, call befriending services and gently activity groups throughout the UK.
Kitty Blackwell, the charity’s director of fundraising and communications, added: “With the exceptional demand for Re-engage’s free services, we’re grateful for the support of companies like Alfa Travel so we can continue supporting as many older people as possible struggling with loneliness.”
