The Live at Home charity has found that incidence of loneliness did not grow during lockdown.

The organisation, which helps older people to live independently, surveyed 500 of its members during and after lockdown.

It found that many people’s feelings of loneliness did not drastically change during the 18 weeks of Covid-19 lockdown.

Instead, it found that for many of its members these same feelings of loneliness have existed before, during and after lockdown.

The charity said: ’These findings may surprise many but not the charity who has worked on the island for 22 years tackling the effects of isolation and loneliness among the elderly and adults.’

The charity had to suspend its group activities and befriending visits during the spring lockdown and switch its focus to supporting those in self-isolation who were not able to access the help they needed.

It said that 77% of members contacted had no access to the internet and were unable to benefit from essential information during lockdown, such as the Covid-19 assessment tool.

The charity made 5,223 support calls and saw an increase in the number of people who needed regular telephone support.

The charity provided a freephone number for people to contact it, ran virtual coffee mornings for those with internet access, set up a telephone conferencing system for those with no data access so they could take part in quizzes, sent out ’boredom buster’ packs with books, jigsaws and craft items as well as suggestions for things to write or think about.

When social distancing rules were relaxed Live at Home began to organise coffee mornings, group talks and lunches with Covid-based additional measures in place.

Live at Home said that just over a quarter of its members are still fearful about resuming normal social interactions, and so they are using the survey results to develop additional support for them .

Jackie Bridson, the chief executive of Live at Home, said: ’We want to highlight our survey findings at this time to educate the public about loneliness and isolation.

’Just because the pandemic restrictions have lessened, the need for everyone to remain connected has not.’

She added: ’At Live at Home we continue to build and strengthen our services to keep the Isle of Man community connected through the pandemic and beyond.’