Our latest project: Ageing Alone

Why we launched our newest project

Most of us, if we're honest, have had the occasional moment of wondering what getting older will really look like. Whether we'll have the right people around us. Whether the big moments, and the difficult ones, will be shared with someone who knows us well.

For the majority, those thoughts are fleeting. But for a growing number of older people across the UK, they point to something real and everyday: ageing without the family support or ‘next of kin’.

This isn't a niche concern: it's a quietly significant shift in how we're living. The proportion of women in the UK without children has doubled over a generation, from around one in nine to one in five, and projections suggest the trend is continuing. By 2030, more than two million people over 65 will never have been parents. And family on paper doesn't always mean family in practice, children may live hundreds of miles away, relationships change, circumstances shift. For older LGBT+ people and adults with learning disabilities, these pressures can be even more acute.

The result is more older people navigating life's bigger transitions (health changes, new care needs, important decisions) without someone reliably in their corner.

Introducing our Ageing Alone project

This year, The Link Visiting Scheme launched our Ageing Alone project, designed specifically for the people we support who have no next of kin or emergency contact on record. We know that for these individuals, the practical and emotional stakes of ageing are higher, and that small moments of human connection can make an enormous difference.

The project brings together regular check-in calls, proactive planning to help smooth life's harder transitions, and a commitment to the things that matter most: being there for the moments that might otherwise pass unnoticed. A birthday. A milestone. A day that deserves to be marked.

Our newest team member, Wellbeing Officer Nicky, has been at the heart of getting the project off the ground — visiting Link Friends, building relationships, and making sure no one feels like an afterthought. Already, she's had the privilege of helping one of our Link Friends celebrate their 100th birthday.

If you'd like to find out more about the Ageing Alone project, or if you know someone who might benefit from our support, please get in touch.