Skip to content
Sign In Subscribe
German Federal States — News — Social — Turn of the year — Germany — Society — Seniors — Holiday — silver mesh — hotline — New Year — Berlin

"Silbernetz" hotline available at all times over the holidays

A special hotline in Berlin is also offering a sympathetic ear for lonely senior citizens over the holidays. From December 24 until New Year, the Silbernetz will be available around the clock and throughout Germany, according to a spokeswoman for the Berlin-based association. In the same period...

,   and  Lauren Adams
2 min read
Elke Schilling, founder of Silbernetz, makes a phone call while sitting on her sofa in her home....aussiedlerbote.de
Elke Schilling, founder of Silbernetz, makes a phone call while sitting on her sofa in her home office. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Society - "Silbernetz" hotline available at all times over the holidays

A special hotline in Berlin is also offering a sympathetic ear for lonely senior citizens over the holidays. From December 24 until New Year, the Silbernetz will be available around the clock and throughout Germany, according to a spokeswoman for the Berlin association. In the same period last year, the phone rang a total of 5628 times. The hotline is also available every day, but not around the clock.

"It makes me both happy and sad to see how Silbernetz is developing, how urgently it is needed - around 20 percent more calls every year with all the topics that concern older people in their unique diversity," said Silbernetz initiator Elke Schilling in a statement.

According to the association, most of the callers "just want to talk" (84 percent). 58 percent talk about loneliness and 68 percent about physical complaints.

In the dark and cold season, more senior citizens generally call the telephone hotline, it said. Most calls are usually made on Sundays.

By mid-December, the Silbernetz had recorded 148,000 calls this year. That was an average of 1900 calls per week. 20 percent of callers were men, 80 percent women. Most of the calls came from Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.

Website Silbernetz

Read also:

  1. Senior citizens in Germany can reach out for support during the 'turn of the year' through the 'Silbernetz' hotline, which operates around the clock in Berlin and throughout the country.
  2. The 'Social' initiative 'Silbernetz' reported a significant increase in calls last New Year's holiday, with over 5600 contacts made to their hotline.
  3. Loneliness and physical complaints are common topics discussed during the holiday season on the 'Silver Mesh' hotline, a resource for senior 'citizens' in Germany.
  4. Berlin is one of the top cities with the highest number of 'seniors' using the 'Silbernetz' hotline, along with North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.

Source: www.stern.de

Comments

Related

Latest

Grave accusations levied against JVA staff members in Bavaria
Panorama

Grave accusations levied against JVA staff members in Bavaria

Grave accusations levied against JVA staff members in Bavaria The Augsburg District Attorney's Office is currently investigating several staff members of the Augsburg-Gablingen prison (JVA) on allegations of severe prisoner mistreatment. The focus of the investigation is on claims of bodily harm in the workplace. It's

,   and  Ann Bradley
Members Public