The author, Robert Frost, once said: ‘One aged man – one man – can’t fill a house.’

It’s estimated that over 50% of older people in the UK live alone and if you want some insight into the social issues raised by this you might want to begin by reading this report of a recent conference in Wales taken from   Wales Online today.

All of which is intended to spark your interest in this two-day conference hosted by AgeUK Oxfordshire taking place at Merton College, Oxford, in July.  Entitled: ‘What do we know about loneliness?’ it has attracted international speakers and seems good value for £150.  The aim is to review the evidence base on the scale of the problem etc.

Perhaps they haven’t heard about Addenbrooke’s Hospital’s apparent solution of building a luxury hotel to better manage the discharge of older people!?  Sometimes the competitiveness beween Oxford and Cambridge in solving our social ills is taken just a little too far don’t you think?