Please sponsor me and help The Silver Line

Please excuse the non-Corrie related blog post! This January I will be giving up the booze to raise money for The Silver Line, a charity very close to my heart.

I volunteer for the Silver Line, a telephone befriending service for older people who live alone. The charity provides vital support for thousands of people across the country. I have gained so much from my experience as a volunteer and The Silver Line need as many charitable donations as possible to keep this important service going.

The statistics about older people and loneliness are frightening. More than half of all 75 year olds in the UK live alone and one in ten suffers “intense” loneliness but is reluctant to ask for help. In a poll conducted to mark the national launch of The Silver Line on 25 November 2013, 9 out of 10 older people told researchers that “a chat on the phone” is the most helpful solution when they feel lonely but 1 in 4 older people say they never or seldom have someone to chat to on the phone. 

The Silver Line is the confidential, free helpline for older people across the UK* open every day and night of the year. Our specially trained helpline staff:

- Offer information, friendship and advice

- Link callers to local groups and services

- Offer regular befriending calls

- Protect and support those who are suffering abuse and neglect

The Silver Line is free to callers so we rely on charitable donations from organisations and individuals who care about the welfare and safety of older people to fund this vital new service.

So this January I'll be going alcohol free for a very special cause. All donations gratefully received!

Thank you.

You can donate via my Just Giving Page 

You can find out more about The Silver Line by visiting their website 

You can follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82 

 

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter @infokitasemua

Download our free App | Visit Corrie.net


All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Please sponsor me and help The Silver Line

Please excuse the non-Corrie related blog post! This January I will be giving up the booze to raise money for The Silver Line, a charity very close to my heart.

I volunteer for the Silver Line, a telephone befriending service for older people who live alone. The charity provides vital support for thousands of people across the country. I have gained so much from my experience as a volunteer and The Silver Line need as many charitable donations as possible to keep this important service going.

The statistics about older people and loneliness are frightening. More than half of all 75 year olds in the UK live alone and one in ten suffers “intense” loneliness but is reluctant to ask for help. In a poll conducted to mark the national launch of The Silver Line on 25 November 2013, 9 out of 10 older people told researchers that “a chat on the phone” is the most helpful solution when they feel lonely but 1 in 4 older people say they never or seldom have someone to chat to on the phone. 

The Silver Line is the confidential, free helpline for older people across the UK* open every day and night of the year. Our specially trained helpline staff:

- Offer information, friendship and advice

- Link callers to local groups and services

- Offer regular befriending calls

- Protect and support those who are suffering abuse and neglect

The Silver Line is free to callers so we rely on charitable donations from organisations and individuals who care about the welfare and safety of older people to fund this vital new service.
So this January I'll be going alcohol free for a very special cause. All donations gratefully received!

Thank you.

You can donate via my Just Giving Page 

You can find out more about The Silver Line by visiting their website 
You can follow me on Twitter @GraemeN82 

 

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter @infokitasemua

Download our free App | Visit Corrie.net


All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Exclusive! Corrie's Debbie Oates on writing for Rita

Coronation Street scriptwriter Debbie Oates has taken up our charity challenge to write about their love of Coronation Street.

In return we're donating £25 to Debbie's charity of choice which is The Brain Tumour Charity. A good friend of Debbie's, who had a brain tumour last year, is doing a 10k walk – a great sign of her progress as she recovers.  Debbie's friend is a Corrie fan too, and we've donated to her JustGiving page here.  If you can donate too, please do.

If you're famous (even just a little bit) and would like to write about your love of Corrie in exchange for a charity donation, have a look here.

And now, it's over to Debbie...

"It was one of the most surreal moments of my life when Rita Sullivan stood in the Kabin, opened her mouth and out came something I’d typed. I mean, Rita Sullivan.  THE Rita Sullivan.  Actual Barbara Knox.  Said something I had sat at home, in my little office, and typed. 

Corrie has been in the ether pretty much all of my life, part of the weave and weft of the city I love.  When I got chance to do a trial script I was beyond nervous – how do you write characters you’ve watched and heard discussed for what feels like ever?  On a show that is older than me?  

When I’m nervous I forget everything I know, so, after delivering my script I thought I’d best swot up in case I was lucky enough to get an interview.  I bought Daran Little’s fab book of the storylines to take on holiday with me, planning to read it on the flight, only to discover there was a Corrie actor on the same flight… worried I’d look like a scary stalker, I hid the book. But later opened it up and as I turned each page, remembered the way the show had unfolded over the years – even when you hadn’t watched an episode, or several, friends would be talking about it, or relatives, or people in the queue at Safeway’s...  The pictures – full of icons and long remembered events - just made me feel more scared!

And now, after well over a decade writing the show, I still get a buzz when I hear people arguing over the stories, or characters, or issues in the queue at Morrison’s (Safeways now consigned to history like Marathon and Opal Fruits and Jack Duckworth’s string vests).  It’s a privilege, a joy – often a challenge – and, when we’re handling stories that radiate into people’s lives, a responsibility to write for Coronation Street.  But it is by far the least lonely job for a writer – on a team who meet regularly to create, debate, fight, laugh and ultimately make up stories (then go to the pub), and feeling part of the bigger family of passionate, creative and talented folks that make up the cast and crew.  And I even got the chance to tell Barbara Knox about that moment of my very first episode…   Now THAT was surreal!"

Find out more about Corrie scriptwriter Debbie Oates

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All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Win Kylie Platt's top for MacMillan Cancer Relief

A top worn by actress Paula Lane as Kylie Platt on Coronation Street, is up for auction on eBay.

 All proceeds go to MacMillan Cancer Support.

The top comes with a certificate of authenticity from ITV.

Bid to win it here.

Download our free App | Follow on Twitter @infokitasemua | Like on Facebook | Visit Corrie.net



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License