One reader’s neighbour is without internet access and struggles to use a mobile phone. He has been forgotten in 2020 Britain
I read your article on loneliness, and the communities secretary’s encouragement to “connect with our older neighbours” (Government announces £7.5m fund to fight loneliness in England, 29 December). My wife and I (retired, IT-savvy and still fit professionals) recently did that, and were shocked to realise how profoundly many old people have been cast adrift in modern Britain.
Our elderly neighbour is unable to access the internet and email. He also struggles to use his mobile phone. In short, he is cut off from the primary means of communication with medical and other services, especially during the Covid pandemic. He is competent and assertive, but has lost the means to act.
