SHARING a hot drink and a biscuit, the members of Tollesbury's Silver Threads Club are pleased to have a haven where they can catch up with friends and escape winter's chill.
Last year, 600 elderly people in Essex died as a result of the cold, and clubs like this offer a vital lifeline to many pensioners living alone and struggling to pay their heating bills.
This week sees the launch of the Essex Community Foundation and the Chronicle's Surviving Winter Appeal, which aims to raise cash to provide aid to elderly and vulnerable members of our community during the cold months.
Last year, Chronicle readers helped raise more than £35,000 for the appeal. The money was shared out to organisations like Silver Threads, but this year we hope to raise even more.
Jean Arthur, one of the club's presidents, said: "Our group is massively important to our members and if we didn't run it some wouldn't leave the house.
"Winter can be hard for people, a lot of our members don't drive and so don't like going out but we offer them somewhere warm to come and meet.
"We always have warm drinks and biscuits so the club is a haven where people don't have to worry about their heating bills or being alone and I think they really appreciate that."
The appeal encourages members of the public to donate their winter fuel payment – a sum of money paid to everyone aged over 60 regardless of their income – to help with winter heating bills.
Mrs Arthur, 79, who started going to the club 20 years ago, when her husband Colin died, added: "We received £1,200 from the appeal and used it to go to a pantomime and have a Christmas lunch. It really allowed us to go out and have some fun."
Find out how you can support the appeal on pages 4&5
