Bupa Care Homes Hold Communi-tea Week Celebrations

LEEDS, England, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bupa has held Communi-tea Week events in its care homes to help tackle loneliness in older people.

Residents of Bupa care homes throughout the UK have brewed up some community spirit by inviting older people to join them for a friendly cup of tea.

Altogether, over 300 care homes, including residential care and nursing care homes, hosted special afternoon tea parties to mark Communi-tea Week, a nationwide campaign which aimed to use tea-related social activities to help tackle the problems of isolation and loneliness in older people.

Worrying statistics demonstrate the size of the isolation problem in the UK, with over 1 million (11%) of people aged 65 or over saying they are always or often feel lonely. Nearly half of all older people believe that the television is their main form of company and 17% of older people have less than weekly contact with family, friends and neighbours*.  

Siobhan Drane, Bupa's community affairs manager, deemed the week a great success: "Communi-tea Week is a great way of highlighting the support networks that are available in local communities, as well as raising awareness of the serious issues facing older people today. Everyone put on the kettle and contacted someone they thought may need their spirits lifting - a cup of tea is the perfect way to reach out and make a difference."

As well as organising tea-related social events, from tea-tasting sessions to tea dances, Bupa care homes urged others to help by inviting older people living on their own to join them for a cuppa, whether it be a neighbour or friend.

Attracting generous sponsorship from Tetley and McVities, this was the fifth year that Communi-tea Week has stirred people into action, with Bupa also providing the care homes with tea-tasting tips, advice on how to make the perfect cup of tea and guides on knitting a Communi-tea Week tea cosy.

Notes to Editors:

* http://policy.helptheaged.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/29341400-5DF0-49B7-BD90-00CE05A0F46F/0/uk_facts.pdf

About Bupa Care Services:

Bupa Care Services runs 305 nursing and residential homes in the UK and cares for almost 18,500 people. Our homes are open to everyone – with over 70 percent of UK residents receiving state funding. We are the only company to offer Alzheimer's Society-trained Dementia Champions in our UK specialist care homes and over 25% of our beds in the UK are registered for specialist dementia care. Bupa Care Services employs over 27,000 people and owns care homes in Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.

About Bupa Group:

Bupa's purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. 

With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare.  We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.

Employing nearly 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. 

PR contact:
Caroline Davy
Community Affairs Assistant
Bupa Care Services
Bridge House
Outwood Lane
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 4UP
+44(0)113-381-6255
www.bupa.co.uk

SOURCE Bupa