Loneliness & Support Officer

This advert will be closing on the 5th March 2026.

The Silver Line Helpline is recruiting for 6x Loneliness & Support Officers to join their fantastic team providing a vital service to older people across the UK. The Silver Line Helpline is a free, confidential telephone service offering friendship, conversation and support to older people, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Representing the values of The Silver Line Helpline and Age UK, you will be the first point of contact for incoming calls from older people in need of support or just a friendly chat. Given the nature of the helpline each day will be varied and you will need to be adaptable to lots of unique situations.

Working as part of this supportive team, you will adhere to all safeguarding procedures in order to keep callers safe from potential abuse or neglect.

We have 6 part-time vacancies working 28 hours across days and evenings.

These exciting positions offer hybrid working between home and our Blackpool office. We currently require office attendance a minimum of once a quarter. You may also be asked to attend the office occasionally for training or other reasons, as required. You will be on a hybrid contract and must cover the costs of all travel to the office yourself. Our office attendance requirements will be reviewed later in 2026.

Please note that this post does require weekend and bank holiday working on a shift pattern basis. We will provide example shift rotas during the recruitment process, which you will need to review and confirm if it is feasible for you.

Please note: before joining the National Services team at Age UK, we want to be open that the organisation is in a period of change. Age UK works as a network of over 100 independent partners, with national services delivered by the charity and local services delivered by partners across the UK. Our new strategy means more services will be delivered locally in future, although we think our National Services will continue to play an important role.

You would be joining a team that is evolving and changing to develop new ways of supporting older people, and we want you to have this context as you consider your application.

Must haves:

Application = A, Interview = I, Test = T, Presentation = P

• High levels of personal and emotional resilience and the ability to stay calm during challenging and pressured situations. A, I
• Ability to manage a busy workload and adapt to change in a fast-paced service. A, I

• Knowledge of safeguarding with the ability to assess and manage risk independently. A, I, T
• Understanding and knowledge of mental health issues. I
• The resilience to work shifts when almost all time is spent on the phone, remaining engaged, active and responsive on every call. I
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office, call handling, and CRM systems. A, I, T
• Ability to learn and become competent with new technology and systems. I, T
• Ability to multitask and focus on calls, whilst entering data and communicating effectively via IT systems. I, T
• Ability to work within and meet service KPIs on call length, utilisation and other key targets. I
• Ability to maintain clear boundaries with callers. I
• Understanding of the issues facing older people, particularly the impact of loneliness and isolation on older people. A, I

• Ability to respond in a non-judgemental, empathetic, respectful and friendly manner in all situations. I
• Excellent interpersonal, customer service and communication skills, with the ability to adapt communication style to meet the needs of the caller. A, I
• Ability to navigate challenging topics of conversation with good listening skills and excellent conversational skills. I
• Ability to adhere to policies and procedures. I
• Being a positive team player. I
• A commitment to promoting equality and diversity. I
• A passion for supporting older people. I

Application = A, Interview = I, Test = T, Presentation = P

• Experience in working in services to support older people. I
• Experience working with colleagues remotely. I
• Experience working within services that operate outside of normal working hours. I

• Competitive…