'Silence can be the loudest noise' for people living alone so keeping in touch with the outside world is extremely "vital", especially during a pandemic.

A befriending service in Berkshire has continued to support 200 residents across Bracknell, Reading and West Berkshire who feel isolated by offering 'phone befriending', moving from face-to-face contact.

Age UK in Berkshire is just one of the community support organisations offering the befriending service, which has had to adapt in this way due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Along with befriending, the charity has also helped with advice including on how to get blue badges.

Ashok Sawhney has been volunteering as a befriender for two years and uses his spare time in retirement to call three residents once week.

He said: "It's a lot more difficult to phone because you can't see the person. We keep an eye on our contacts and we can flag any issues we notice so that element is now missing.

"One of my contacts was very keen on physical presence, he's bed ridden but used to play sports too so it's difficult for him so when I talk to him I try and encourage him to walk a little bit.

"Before all of this happened we would play chess together, but we can't do that now."

The befriending volunteer explained why the phone call service is so vital for isolated residents.

Ashok added: "I do notice that they are lonelier because I can't visit them in person. They often tell me on the phone how they 'cant wait for next week's call' which is really fulfilling.

"It's always good to help others because you can't put a price on that."

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One resident Ashok gets to call weekly is Brian, who signed up to the befriending service a year ago.

His wife Luda Kerry explained how much it benefits his husband, who is having to shield indoors due to Covid-19.

She said: "We met Ashok about September time last year, he started coming to our house and the home visits were extremely beneficial because they would talk about substantial topics. Ashok could talk about everything.

"Brian kept saying to me 'when is the next week?' because he couldn't wait to get a visit and see a friend. I see this as more of a friendship than a service, as he was never in a rush to leave, he'd always stay an hour and he was always extremely kind."

"It was heartbreaking to then stop Ashok coming to the house so we continued with phone calls. But face-to-face is better because it's personal. He feels like someone cares for him and there's a special bond there. Just chatting to someone can be hard, Brian is a shy person but this service is vital for him."

A survey carried out by Age UK of 569 people found that a proportion of over 70s experiencing depression has doubled since the start of the pandemic.

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More than one in three over 60s (36 per cent) say they are feeling less motivated to do the things they used to enjoy doing.

Tamsin Phipps, service manager for Age UK Berkshire, said: "Not every person can use a telephone so the befriending service has also seen befrienders take their dogs out for walks, drop off presents and cake whilst social distancing. It's truly amazing what people have done during lockdown.

"Loneliness is a very difficult thing, it can cause illness and unhappiness, loneliness is far greater than people imagine. You can feel lonely in tricky situations when you have nobody to talk to. Being lonely doesn't mean you are alone and society needs to recognise that."