A PHONE call could be all it takes to give a lonely elderly person a reason to get up in the morning.

For just £2.60 charity Age UK Oxfordshire can check in with someone for 20 minutes and often provide someone with the only social contact they'll have each week.

Across the county more than 12,700 older people will go a month without speaking to anyone.

Currently more than 400 people who have often lost loved ones are supported by Age UK Oxfordshire through its Phone Friends service and Late Spring bereavement groups.

D-Day veteran John Kearley, 94, from Banbury takes part in Chipping Norton Late Spring and says it has been a lifesaver since losing his wife Kate three years ago.

He said: "I have buried all Kate's family and my family, besides my children, so I have experienced several bereavements but nothing compared to Kate."

Age UK Oxfordshire has launched its 'No one should have no one' campaign.

The appeal hopes to raise funds for bereavement group Late Spring which offers a friendly ear, advice or a chance to get out the house and meet others who may be lonely after losing a loved one.

Mr Kearley, who served as a soldier in the 75 Anti Tank Regiment in the 11th Armoured Division, was happily married for 67 years after meeting his wife at a dance and joking about his two left feet.

Following the war they had three children while both teaching in various areas in the country.

They moved to Banbury and eventually into retirement housing after Mrs Kearley was diagnosed with Parkinsons.

After several hospital visits Mrs Kearley passed away in 2013 aged 87, which is when Mr Kearsley turned to the help of Age UK.

The grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of three heard about the Late Spring bereavement group through a neighbour.

He said: "We had a collective empathy in the group which was apparent from the start and I say without exaggeration it has been a life saver."

There are 13 branches across the county that run twice a month for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one.

Age UK Oxfordshire head of community development Ruth Swift said currently 1,200 phone calls are made in the county each month and currently about 150 people attend bereavement groups.

They're looking for donations to help the service and for people to volunteer and become a 'phone a friend'.

She added: "Simply giving your time to make a phone call can make a real difference to older people in the community for anyone that may feel alone or isolated."

Last Christmas the Oxford Mail ran a campaign with Age UK Oxfordshire to raise funds to pay for hundreds of calls to lonely older people.

More than £2,000 was raised in a few weeks which will pay for 740 phone calls and about 30 people expressed an interest in volunteering as Phone Friends – three times the campaign’s original target.

The charity says that for about £10 an older person can receive a weekly 20 minute phone call for one month, alternatively £10 would pay for the coffee and cake for one bereavement group.

To donate visit justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/ageukoxfordshire/noone

To sign up as a volunteer or to help contact Paula on 07557038278 or see ageuk.org.uk/oxfordshire/our-services/late-spring