IT'S a sad fact of life that just as we're in our older years and perhaps can't get out and about as much as we want, visitors diminish.

When we are younger, more vibrant and able to get out and about, ironically, there also seem to be more family members and friends visiting or people just popping in.

So any perceived threat to the voluntary services that befriend local elderly people and arrange for individuals to visit them must be taken seriously.

Bolton has befriending services in Horwich, Westhoughton, Halliwell and Farnworth. There is also a newer one in the south Turton area, formed through a partnership between Bolton Council and Age Concern Bolton and with a co-ordinator based at Harwood Library. There is also befriending through the council's adult placement service.

All but this last one involves neighbourhood-based organisations and pairing up volunteers with elderly people to arrange regular visits in their home, and regular social get-togethers outside it.

It's an excellent way to tackle isolation and nearly 300 older people across the borough are supported by the commitment and effort of around 170 volunteers.

What the figures don't show is the real gratitude of lonely, elderly people who may not see another visitor from one week to the next, and the genuine friendships that spring up between them and their volunteers.

The voluntary groups receive the majority of their funding from the council, so the news of an intended review of these services was bound to worry all those involved - especially the older people for whom this visiting is a lifeline.

Cllr Rosa Kay explained in The Bolton News that they are not, in fact, under threat and acknowledged the important work they do in the community.

The council wants to further develop partnerships and support local groups, so let's hope her reassuring words are translated into a secure future for the befriending groups.

To get rid of them or curb their effectiveness in any way would, in the light of such commitment to improving services for the elderly, certainly be like throwing the baby away with the bath water. And it would be a particularly callous way to treat our vulnerable citizens.