NEWS RELEASE
Tea-obsessed Brits drink nearly 900 cuppas each every year
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New YouGov research reveals that the average Brit drink 17 cups of tea in a week, the
equivalent of 876 cups each year1
As age increases so does the amount of tea people drink; 8 cups a week for 18-24’s,
12 for 25-34’s, 16 for 35-44’s, 20 for 45-54’s and 21 for 55+’s
Almost a third (30%) of women drink tea when they’re feeling unwell in comparison to
only 16% of men
Youngsters are more likely to turn to a cuppa when they’re sad, with nearly a quarter
(24%) of 18-25s identifying tea as something they drink when they’re feeling sad,
compared to just 11% of 55+s
Across the generations, Brits agree that a cuppa signals comfort (58%) and an
opportunity to relax with 65% of all ages associating a cup of tea with relaxing
Living up to the stereotype of being obsessed with a cuppa, the average Brit enjoys 884
cups of tea each year – enough per person to fill more than two bathtubs2 with teaaccording to a new survey commissioned by older people’s charity Contact the Elderly.
The YouGov survey of over 2000 Brits was commissioned to mark fifty years of the charity
organising tea parties for isolated older people suffering from loneliness, and revealed that
an average 17 cups of tea are consumed by the average Brit each week, working out at 884
cups per year.
Findings showed that our tea-drinking habits increase as we get older, with those aged 55
and over typically enjoying 21 cups of tea every week compared to 18 -24 year olds who
typically only enjoy 8 cups each week.
Youngsters are more likely to turn to a cuppa when they’re sad, with nearly a quarter (24%)
of 18-25s saying they put the kettle on when they’re feeling sad, compared to just 11% of 55
and overs. The poll also found that almost a third of women (30%) turn to a cuppa to make
them feel better when they’re unwell in comparison to only 16% of men.
However, across the generations and the gender divide, Brits agreed that putting the kettle
on for a cuppa signalled a time to relax. Over half of all adults polled agreed that they
associated a cup of tea with comfort (58%) and the majority (65%) identified relaxing the top
reason for having a brew.
Each month older people’s charity Contact the Elderly brings together different generations
over a cuppa to combat loneliness in older people. The charity aims to relieve the acute
loneliness of isolated older people, aged 75 and over, by hosting monthly tea parties in the
homes of volunteer hosts across the UK.
The charity’s 7,500 volunteers are able to provide its older guests with much-needed contact
to make new friendships with local older people and younger volunteers over a cup of tea
and a slice of cake.
The charity celebrates its Golden Jubilee this month, with over 5,000 people across the UK
marking the occasion with a special ‘Big Fif-TEA’ party on Sunday 19th April.
A monthly tea party can make such a difference to someone’s life and the group provides
older people like octogenarian Jean with valuable social opportunities each month.
Jean, 83, from Newcastle, said:
“Contact the Elderly’s tea parties are something I can look forward to every month. As I
don’t have any family, I know that I won’t get out if I don’t make the effort to. At the weekend
in particular, it’s very difficult for older people to get out and about as everyone else is busy,
so Sunday tea parties are just fantastic.”
Mary Rance, CEO, Contact the Elderly said:
“This research confirms that tea really is part of our national identity. At Contact the Elderly,
we know first hand that a monthly tea party makes a huge difference to the lives of our older
guests, many of whom do not have regular face to face contact with anyone other than their
carer or the postman.
“We’re very proud to be celebrating our 50th anniversary and are extremely grateful to our
incredible volunteers for making our work possible. Fifty years is a remarkable landmark and
in addition to celebrating our achievements to date we must think about the future of
loneliness. The number of isolated over-75s is growing, and there are still one million lonely
older people in England, Scotland and Wales who are completely cut off from society and in
need of our help.
“We know from our parties and our research that a cup of tea brings Britain together, so as
we celebrate our Golden Jubilee, we urge people to support us by volunteering to put the
kettle on for lonely older people.”
For more information on how to volunteer with Contact the Elderly or if you want to come
along to a tea party, visit: www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk or free phone 0800 716543.
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Notes to editors:
Notes to editors:
1. Based on Contact the Elderly calculations; an average British adults drinks 16.85
cups of tea a week, with 52 weeks in the year this comes to 876 cups of tea
2. Based on Contact the Elderly calculations based on an average mug size and
average UK bathtub size
For further media information, please contact:
Katherine Mountain: 0207 812 0606 | 07708220506 | [email protected]
Rhiannon Hughes: 0207 812 0606 | 07791172544 | [email protected]
Contact the Elderly
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Now in its Golden Jubilee year, Contact the Elderly is the only national charity, which
since inception, has focussed solely on relieving the acute loneliness and isolation of
older people who live alone, without family, friends or other support networks nearby
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The Contact the Elderly model is based on a simple yet very effective model: free,
monthly tea parties for small groups of older people and volunteers within their
community - which bring all ages together, develop fulfilling friendships and support
networks, and give everyone something to look forward to
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Contact the Elderly currently provides more than 54,000 social opportunities for
isolated older people per annum, across 570 groups. Since 1965 Contact the Elderly
has provided regular face-to-face contact via more than 7,400 volunteers
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There are currently over 7,400 volunteers supporting the groups: volunteer drivers
collect the older guests from their homes and accompany them to tea parties, while
volunteer hosts hold the tea parties in their homes
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As part of its continuing Power of Contact campaign to recruit more volunteers,
Contact the Elderly aims by 2020 to double the number of isolated older people it
supports
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Contact the Elderly is the winner of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering
Award 2012
www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk
Research methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2009
adults aged 18 and over. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th and 10th April 2015. The
survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all
GB adults.