Tom Berney is the Chair of the Scottish Older People’s Assembly

I’VE always thought Hogmanay was Scotland’s finest tradition. For my generation, it is memories of cleaning the house, putting on your good clothes, a steak pie dinner, opening the windows to let the old air out and the New Year in, currant bun and hearing the sirens of the ships on the Clyde echoing the bells at midnight. Then the fun and ritual of neighbours and relatives first-footing for days afterwards. I’m sure many families still try to keep up some of that, with the older members trying to preserve it, but as they say, even nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. The main point was that it was about binding families and the community together in remembering the past but looking optimistically to the future. I’m not sure that a rock concert in Edinburgh carries the same kind of mystique – but I expect that is just showing my age.

I’m sure a lot of us, though, still do get sentimental, or even maudlin, at the bells as we remember lost friends and relatives and happier times.

But it must be particularly hard for the growing numbers of lonely and isolated older people watching all that recorded TV celebrity jollity on their own. And there are a lot of them.

As the population ages, we are facing a loneliness epidemic. The figures are depressing. Half of people aged over 75 live alone; 17 per cent of older people are in contact with family, friends or neighbours less than once a week (11 per cent less than once a month); 12 per cent feel trapped in their homes; and 9 per cent feel they are cut off from society.

It is sad that our society has let this happen. This week, the dangers of obesity were reported, but an earlier scientific study established that loneliness has around twice the impact on life expectancy. Lonely people are more prone to depression and dementia and twice as likely to have an early death.

One-fifth of older people surveyed in UK feel lonely all the time, with weekends the worst. We can be sure that in Scotland a lonely Hogmanay would top that.

Loneliness is, of course, a subjective feeling and often people will feel a stigma in admitting to it. To its credit, the Scottish Government has set up a Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund. It is easy to say that £300,000 is pretty meagre for an issue of this scale, but it is clear that much of the solution has to lie in changing attitudes. All of us should give some thought to what we can do help the lonely, young and old. Hogmanay would be a good time to start.

Auld Lang Syne is always the better for having more hands to hold. So why don’t we all make a point of inviting a lonely neighbour in to join us? The older ones will at least know not to be empty-handed and you might get a bit of coal or shortbread from them. And you can look forward an improved relationship in the New Year.

However you celebrate, try to think about other people, and have a great time when it comes.