DEPRESSION isn't part of the ageing process.

There are many issues which can trigger feelings of loneliness and isolation but early intervention is imperative to tackle the problems before they escalate.

Launched in 2008, Positive Minds was established in response to Undiagnosed, Untreated, At Risk, a report published in the same year as part of the national Down, But Not Out campaign by Age Concern now known as Age UK.

The organisation's aim is to improve choice and services for older people with mild to moderate depression and the recent cash injection of just short of £10,000 through the Big Lottery Fund - an organisation handing out 40 per cent of the money raised for good causes through the National Lottery - will help to raise awareness and provide invaluable support for those who need it.

While depression and low mood can affect anyone, older people can be particularly susceptible to these feelings.

But contrary to perception, it isn't part of the ageing process and that is something Positive Minds is eager to promote.

Positive Minds chairman, Marilyn Foster, recognised older people's attitudes to depression during her 30 or so years she spent as a counsellor within the health service and noticed how it was often dismissed as something that was simply part of old age.

Marilyn acknowledges that attitudes are changing and that is partly down to organisations such as Positive Minds who are bringing the issue to the fore.

According to Marilyn depression is a big issue affecting various sectors of the community.

"Older men don't like speaking about depression, women seem to be more adept at getting social networks together. I am not saying there aren't any lonely women around Bradford, there are lonely women around, but men are more likely to be."

She says they also hope to engage older men through activities such as football or gardening where they can use their different skills.

"You can be lonely in a family, that is one of the things we will try and challenge," she says.

"It may be because you live in a rural area or in a house in the middle of nowhere and obviously you can be isolated in a village or a town. We have to do more in the community to try and alleviate that."

Depression can affect physical health too, increasing the risk of older people losing their independence, a fear many older people have.

Marilyn explains one of the ways they aim to tackle the issue is by using some of the funding to produce a DVD which they will showcase at community roadshows targeting certain areas.

As well as raising awareness about depression and loneliness, the DVD and the roadshows they are also hoping to run in various communities, will help stimulate discussion and promote ways that support older people who are at risk, or who are suffering with depression, and focus on ways to avoid it.

Says Marilyn: "We are very pleased to receive the funding as it will help us in our mission to reach all communities and tailor the information given out about depression to their needs."

Another initiative to tackle loneliness and depression, which is currently underway, is a year-long pilot project helping people to get to grips with technology and expand their social networks.

'Worth Connecting' was funded through a £40,000 donation from the former Bradford and District Association for Mental Health. The project began in June and Marilyn hopes they can secure more funding to roll it out into other communities.

The project's aim is to identify and help people in the Worth Valley who may be lonely or at risk of social isolation to become more independent.

They can loan a laptop or table to access the internet, or learn how to use their own technology by a qualified IT tutor through weekly-one-to-one tuition in their own home

"Some have computers and no idea how to use these," says Marilyn.

"The more money we can focus to try and help people to get out of this cycle of loneliness because it eats away," says Marilyn.

Prevention, she says, is imperative to tackling the problem and the sooner the better. "The earlier we get there the easier it is to so something about it. If it is left it is really really difficult," adds Marilyn.