An Irish Pensioner Placed Ad In A Newspaper To Avoid Spending his 10th-Straight Christmas Alone

An 85-year-old Irish pensioner faces the prospect of spending his 10th-straight Christmas alone, the Irish Post's Niall O'Sullivan reports, so he's placed an ad with the newspaper to form a Christmas group for others in his situation.

But so far James Gray, a retired butler who now lives in London, has only received one response for - and that individual subsequently said they'd found someone else to pass Christmas with.

"I just want to find someone in time," he said. "I am used to the loneliness, but I do not want it to be the same this year

He added:

"I just had smoked salmon and prawns on my own last year and I had to put up with it.

British charity Age UK says Gray would be just one of almost half a million over-65s who face spending Christmas alone, O'Sullivan says.

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