Author Peter Houghton to present the first three copies of his new book at Playa Flamenca Community Hub
Local author Peter Houghton will officially present the first three copies of his latest book, Living in Silence – The Unseen Crisis of Loneliness and Ageing, to Help at Home Costa Blanca at its Community Hub in Playa Flamenca Commercial Centre at 11am on Friday, 4 September.
The three copies are being donated to the charity for auction, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to Help at Home Costa Blanca.
Members of the public are warmly invited to attend the presentation, meet Peter and learn more about both the book and the important work carried out by the charity within the local community.
Living in Silence tackles an issue that is often hidden behind closed doors: loneliness and isolation among older people.
For many residents of the Costa Blanca, retirement in Spain represents the fulfilment of a long-held dream — sunshine, a different pace of life and the opportunity to enjoy the years for which they have worked so hard.
But ageing can also bring a very different reality.
Partners die. Families may live hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away. Mobility can decline, friendships can disappear and the independence once taken for granted can gradually become more difficult to maintain.
For some, a busy life can slowly become a very quiet one.
It is this often unseen side of ageing that Living in Silence seeks to bring into the open.
The decision to donate the first three copies to Help at Home Costa Blanca therefore has particular significance.
The charity provides support within the community to people who may need assistance, companionship or simply the reassurance of knowing that somebody cares. Its volunteers represent something that cannot easily be measured in statistics — human contact.
Peter believes that the first copies of a book dealing with loneliness and ageing could hardly find a more appropriate purpose.
The message accompanying the donation is simple:
“Because our elders built our future. Let’s care for theirs.”
The presentation also provides an opportunity to highlight a wider issue affecting communities throughout Spain and beyond.
Loneliness does not always announce itself.
There may be no obvious emergency and no visible crisis. It can exist behind the door of the person living next door, in the apartment across the road or within someone we see regularly but never really get to know.
Sometimes the most important question we can ask another person is also one of the simplest:
“Are you OK?”
And sometimes taking a few minutes to listen to the answer can make considerably more difference than we realise.
The event on Friday, 4 September is therefore about considerably more than handing over three books.
It is about supporting a local charity, recognising the contribution older generations have made to our communities and drawing attention to people whose loneliness can too easily remain invisible.
Peter Houghton will be at the Help at Home Costa Blanca Community Hub, Playa Flamenca Commercial Centre, from 11am to make the presentation and meet members of the public.
Everyone is welcome to come along, say hello and support the occasion.
Three books may be a modest beginning.
But if they help raise money for a worthwhile local cause — while also starting a conversation about loneliness, ageing and the people living quietly amongst us — then those first three copies will already have achieved something far more important than simply sitting on a bookshelf.
