Bupa Care Homes Hold Communi-tea Week Celebrations

LEEDS, England, May 23, 2011 -

Bupa has held Communi-tea Week events in its care homes to help tackle
loneliness in older people.

Residents of Bupa care homes (www.bupa.co.uk/care-homes)
throughout the UK have brewed up some community spirit by inviting older
people to join them for a friendly cup of tea.

Altogether, over 300 care homes, including residential care
(www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/care-homes/types-of-care/residential-care)
and nursing care (
www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/care-homes/types-of-care/nursing-care)
homes, hosted special afternoon tea parties to mark Communi-tea Week, a
nationwide campaign which aimed to use tea-related social activities to help
tackle the problems of isolation and loneliness in older people.

Worrying statistics demonstrate the size of the isolation problem in the
UK, with over 1 million (11%) of people aged 65 or over saying they are
always or often feel lonely. Nearly half of all older people believe that the
television is their main form of company and 17% of older people have less
than weekly contact with family, friends and neighbours*.

Siobhan Drane, Bupa's community affairs manager, deemed the week a great
success: "Communi-tea Week is a great way of highlighting the support
networks that are available in local communities, as well as raising
awareness of the serious issues facing older people today. Everyone put on
the kettle and contacted someone they thought may need their spirits lifting
- a cup of tea is the perfect way to reach out and make a difference."

As well as organising tea-related social events, from tea-tasting
sessions to tea dances, Bupa care homes urged others to help by inviting
older people living on their own to join them for a cuppa, whether it be a
neighbour or friend.

Attracting generous sponsorship from Tetley and McVities, this was the
fifth year that Communi-tea Week has stirred people into action, with Bupa
also providing the care homes with tea-tasting tips, advice on how to make
the perfect cup of tea and guides on knitting a Communi-tea Week tea cosy.

Notes to Editors:

* policy.helptheaged.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/29341400-5DF0-49B7-BD90-00CE05A0F46F/0/uk_facts.pdf

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About Bupa Care Services:

Bupa Care Services runs 305 nursing and residential homes in the UK and
cares for almost 18,500 people. Our homes are open to everyone - with over 70
percent of UK residents receiving state funding. We are the only company to
offer Alzheimer's Society-trained Dementia Champions in our UK specialist
care homes and over 25% of our beds in the UK are registered for specialist
dementia care. Bupa Care Services employs over 27,000 people and owns care
homes in Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.

About Bupa Group:

Bupa's purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives.
A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company
health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide
workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management
services, including health coaching, and home healthcare.

With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better
healthcare. We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable
healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease
management and ageing.

Employing nearly 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world,
principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as
Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America.

    PR Contact:
    Caroline Davy
    Community Affairs Assistant
    Bupa Care Services
    Bridge House
    Outwood Lane
    Horsforth
    Leeds
    LS18 4UP
    +44(0)113-381-6255
    www.bupa.co.uk

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