The majority of us are aware that the elderly in particular, are vulnerable to loneliness. Mainly this is due to the loss of a spouse, often combined with the onset of frailty; an unfortunate bi-product associated with old age which disenables them from venturing far from home. But loneliness doesn’t just affect the elderly, it can affect any generation from school children to the elderly.

Once again, despite my love of British history, the only thing that I seem to remember from my school days about King Alfred is that he was holed up somewhere in some sort of boggy terrain following a lengthy battle and, due to exhaustion had fallen asleep by a fire and managed to burn some cakes!

I can remember learning about King Richard III when I was but a “wee lassie” back in the late 1960s but the only thing I can really remember about him is that he was a strange looking bloke with a dodgy haircut, a hunch back and that he died in a battle back in the 15th century or thereabouts!