THE world can be a frightening place when you have a condition that could strike at any time – and have no one to take care of you when it does.

Ninety-year-old Grace Fenn, from Abingdon, is deaf in one ear and wears hearing aids which leave her vulnerable to terrifying episodes of vertigo.

Earlier this year the grandmother could not leave her home due to constant dizzy spells and fainting fits, seeing no one every week but her younger son David.

She said: “In the summer I was confined like a prisoner. If I walked about a bit, suddenly everything moved and I fell down.

“I went out once but got caught. I was pushing a trolley and suddenly I was on the ground. My son had to drag me into the house.

“You are a dead weight and the first time it happened the paramedics had an awful job picking me up.”

Although her condition has improved Mrs Fenn, who formerly worked in the aircraft industry, remains isolated at home and will often spend days by herself.

Her husband Bernard, who she married in 1948 and worked at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, passed away about 12 years ago.

She said: “The whole day indoors drives me mad. Sometimes I just grumble at the cat. I wonder if I should ring my other son, but he’s always busy.

“Really, I don’t think people understand loneliness. There’s so many older people about now and the children are away or abroad. They’re very isolated.

“Young people are so busy these days, more busy than when my generation was younger. We used to knock on people’s doors.”

This Christmas, the Oxford Mail is aiming to raise £5,400 for Age UK Oxfordshire, which has championed the needs of older people in the county for decades.

Funds raised will support the charity’s Phone Friends service, where a volunteer calls an older person professing to be lonely once a week to talk and check up on them.

Mrs Fenn was referred to the service by her doctors a few months ago and receives a call from Phone Friend volunteer Tony on Monday afternoons.

She said: “The last time he called we talked about the weather and all sorts of things. He was very patient and understanding and you feel secure if you tell him something.

“It lifts the spirits to have someone to speak to and it means a great deal to me. Sometimes I have missed the call – I’m a slow walker and the phone only rings about seven times – and felt so sorry that I have rung up their HQ.

“Fortunately my son comes quite a bit, but not everybody is that fortunate. Age UK Oxfordshire needs to be known about because it is very important.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP
* Donate to the Lonely this Christmas appeal, which is aiming to raise £5,400 by Christmas to support Age UK Oxfordshire and its 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 Phone Friend recruits are being sought over the Christmas period to make calls from Age UK’s Banbury offices. 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.