EVEN those keeping their spirits high in the face of loneliness can feel in need of a pick-me-up sometimes – especially when they can’t get out.

Daphne Griffiths, 88, is barely able to leave the house after a fall more than a decade ago left her with 13 screws in her leg.

Although the former Land Girl has stayed positive and tries to keep herself busy, her weekly call from Age UK Oxfordshire volunteer Nigel can brighten a bleak day.

She said: “Sometimes I feel lonely. I look at the television and that takes a bit of it off.

“But it’s nice that I have someone to call me.”

Mrs Griffiths joined the Land Army in Hereford during the Second World War.

After the war she met and married Harry Griffiths and the couple had a son, Eric, now 66. She took up work as a home help.

Mr Griffiths fought a long battle with cancer and died in 1982. Mrs Griffiths said: “He didn’t want to go into a home, so he stayed at home until he died. I gave up my job and looked after him.

“My brother Douglas bought the bungalow here in Banbury and I came to live with him in about 2000.

“We lived together for four years but then he had a heart attack.”

Some years before losing her brother Mrs Griffiths was in London visiting relatives when she fell heavily down the stairs, breaking her leg in two places.

After returning to Banbury with a set of metal screws in her leg, Mrs Griffiths now rarely leaves the house.

She gets help with the shopping twice a week from her son at the Morrisons store in Swan Close.

She said: “I’m quite slow and I don’t go out on my own.

“I would like to go out more but I won’t chance it. I don’t want to break anything else. I do feel lonely – I would like a dog but I couldn’t take it out.”

Instead Mrs Griffiths receives a call on Friday afternoons from Nigel, who may be the first person she has spoken to all day.

She said: “Nigel is nice. We talk about different things, about the TV or what’s in the papers.

“It’s a little call and a bit of company; I’m on my own otherwise.

“It means a lot to get a call from Nigel and I always thank him for it.

“It’s a big help to know someone is interested.”

HOW TO HELP

* Donate to the Lonely this Christmas appeal, which is aiming to raise £5,400 by Christmas to support Age UK Oxfordshire and its and Phone Friends service. Text AUKO52 £3 to 70070 to give £3 or visit campaign.justgiving.com/charity/ageukoxfordshire/endloneliness to pledge an amount of your choice.

* Volunteer with Age UK Oxfordshire. Ten new recruits are being sought over the Christmas period. There is no set minimum age and Phone Friends can volunteer from just two hours per week. 
To find out more, email volunteering@ageukoxfordshire.org.uk. 

* If you’re organising a Christmas lunch for neighbours and older people who may not have anyone to share the day with, register it at communitychristmas.org.uk.