Terrence from Oldham’s Story…
A heartwarming story of a local man:
In case you missed the heartwarming tale of Terrence from Oldham…I’ll try to condense it for you. Terrence, 78, from Oldham, appeared on BBC Breakfast to explain that after spending Christmas Day alone for the past 20 years, and suffering from loneliness, he decided to volunteer for Age UK Oldham. He is now a befriender for the charity and regularly visits Nancy, 90, who has severe dementia. They both benefit from the company. It was a nice piece highlighting the excellent work Age UK does to combat loneliness in the UK. Terrence happened to mention during the interview that he didn’t have a Christmas tree. Cue Oldham College students and their choir. I won’t spoil it. I just wanted to set it up in case you haven’t seen it, and even if you have seen it you can watch it again below – it’s joyous honestly!
The story didn’t stop there though. It snowballed. Entertainer John Barrowman was on the show the day this clip was shown, and live on-air he invited Terrence to his show in Sheffield that night. The invitation was accepted which led to another reel on Monday 16th December plus another studio chat with a representative from Age UK and a new volunteer for the befriending programme – one of the Oldham College choir, who signed up in Terrence’s living room whilst sharing a chippy tea with him. The whole thing was cracking PR for Age UK, who reported six times the number of enquiries about befriending following the first appearance alone. An added bonus was seeing the story get so much traction on social media, with people sharing their love for the piece.
This is an extract from a monthly free newsletter from local copywriter Dead Good With Words
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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