AN ISOLATED pensioner from Alton has created cards to hand out in a desperate attempt to find a friend to spend Christmas with.

Tony Williams, 75, has been suffering from loneliness since his beloved wife Jo, also 75, passed away in May.

Tony met Jo, a legal secretary, in a bar more than 35 years ago, and their marriage was "perfect harmony".

The couple were unable to have children and only recently moved to Alton before Jo tragically passed away just nine days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Daily Echo: The couple enjoyed an idyllic life together until Jo was suddenly diagnosed with cancer(Image: SWNS)The couple enjoyed an idyllic life together until Jo was suddenly diagnosed with cancer(Image: SWNS)

Tony explained that the couple moved to be closer to Jo’s sister: “I always thought the husband dies before the wife and that if we moved she would always be near her sister but fate decreed otherwise and stole her away from me and so I’ve got nobody at all.”

The retired physicist can now go for days without speaking to anyone and finds “the unremitting silence 24-hours-a-day unbearable torture”.

After a poster campaign went viral in September, he had people from all over the world messaging him but unfortunately, he didn’t find any local friends.

Cursed by loneliness he often goes for walks around the local village hoping to bump into someone who he could spark up a friendship with.

Daily Echo: (Image: SWNS)(Image: SWNS)

Now in a desperate bid to find a friend to spend the festive period with he has created cards advertising a place at his Christmas table.

He told the Gazette: “I can see the prospects looming of me spending Christmas alone for the first time in my life and I’m thinking I’d rather cut my throat. And then I thought I don’t need to do that there is probably someone else in my situation who might enjoy my company.”

Tony has been putting up cards around his local village, Medstead in Alton, for the last fortnight but unfortunately he is yet to receive a response.

“I can only have one-person round mine for Christmas because my first priority is safety from the virus.”

Tony is looking to find someone, like him, who does not have anyone to spend Christmas with.

“If I find someone to spend Christmas with then we would need to be quite comfortable in each other’s company which would mean me talking to them and meeting them before Christmas.

“The person has got to be outgoing, easy to talk to, optimistic and loves a joke.”

Daily Echo: (Image: SWNS)(Image: SWNS)

Chatty Tony has a wide variety of interests including music, literature, nature, sports and geology which until recently he was studying to gain an A-level in.

He hopes to share his passion for food this Christmas: “I love cooking but the thing is I don’t want to cook for just myself on Christmas it’s awful I can’t bear the thought of putting in all the hard work just for me.”

One of his specialities is smoked duck breast thinly sliced with pieces of orange.

The pensioner also used to run his own wine appreciation society and would love to share a bottle, or some champagne, with someone over the festive period.

If you or someone you know, lives local and can help Tony please email megan.hinton@newsquest.co.uk.