LONELINESS “ Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.” - Paul Johannes Tillich

A mismatch of the relationships we have and those we want An internal trigger telling us to seek company as thirst tells us to drink and hunger tells us to eat Isolation is often where there is no choice but to be alone Some people seek solitude, but few choose to be lonely, primarily because it isn’t good for us What exactly is loneliness?

Loneliness = A serious risk to health

Loneliness harms our mental and physical health Lonely people: Are vulnerable to alcohol problems Eat less well – they are less likely to eat fruit and vegetables Are more likely to be smokers and more likely to be overweight Are less likely to engage in physical activity and exercise

Place based approach to loneliness of any one of any age Asset based approach to community development Working with people in their neighbourhood to explore what contributes to feelings of overwhelming/problematic loneliness Exploring factors like location, health and wellbeing, safety, independence, life transitions Developing and putting into practice local ideas and activities to reduce the effects of loneliness Making every contact and conversation count A neighbourhood approach

The neighbourhoods – York Carr Estate Young families Mixed tenure housing Debt problems Few natural meeting places Little community focus New Earswick Ageing population High levels of unpaid carers Plentiful meeting spaces Rowntree model village Programme fatigue?

The neighbourhoods – Bradford Denholme Rural Older population Poor public transport Active town council Local meeting places Bradford Moor Urban area Ethnically diverse Overcrowded housing Economically deprived High drug and unemployment rates

Recruited, trained and retained 32 community researchers in Participatory Learning and Action in all four neighbourhoods Community researchers gathered information, undertook outreach and all fieldwork and analysis and spoke to over 100 stakeholders Talking to over 2000 people gathering almost 7667 individual comments Local people leading the way

Action Research using PLA

What are the issues affecting people in the four neighbourhoods

Members of the neighbourhoods came up with over 1000 ideas to reduce loneliness An average of 65 ideas were prioritised in each neighbourhood and shared with community partners and local stakeholders Community researchers in the neighbourhoods have done planning, negotiation and project management training Each neighbourhood has reduced (not easy!) these ideas to 5 priorities which they are now putting into practice Community researchers are now activists – sharing the key messages From actions to ideas

What is now happening Get2gether Community Market Confidence group Home visiting CARR CONNECTORS Pop-up Café Working with local church & children centre NELLI Parents play group Community allotments Nelli munch Community activists contributing to further work: Local meetings/ initiative and groups Presentations promotion Media and marketing ONE DENHOLME Walking group Film club App/ face book G.P’s out reach

Key messages from the programme Loneliness kills people and communities Regulation kills kindness and reduces action Lonely people are vulnerable, this is a safeguarding issue Building personal and community confidence builds community resilience Accept it gets messy and give yourself permission to take risks

The stepping stones to engagement and education need to be put back There is a real contradiction between society’s ideals and individual experience You can take the ideas out of the process. You cannot take the process away from the ideas Key messages from the programme

Anyone can be lonely, even busy people. Anyone can reduce loneliness – their own or others How do we make every contact count? How do we look after the health and wellbeing of our communities, congregations, colleagues and ourselves? How do we give the gift of time when we lead such busy lives? How do we resource prevention in hard times? How do we ensure that our community assets are community hubs used to their full potential and open to all? Let’s see how we can all talk about loneliness Wot… no time ?

Overall headline Evaluation findings Those closest to the programme have benefited most Personal change and growth boosts resilience to protect against loneliness in the future Some tangible gains such as gaining employment The neighbourhoods with community assets already in place showed the greatest impact Distance travelled in neighbourhoods with few community assets was higher Pivotal strength was the community development approach and pastoral support The skills and attributes of programme manager were instrumental in achieving this

Professionally Personally

This resource pack brings together the lessons and experiences from the programme and includes: Living with loneliness? – a four-page summary of the causes of loneliness, with infographics; Living with loneliness? Let’s talk about loneliness – a four-page summary of ideas and actions to reduce loneliness, with infographics; Let’s talk about loneliness Neighbourhood approaches to loneliness: our stories – a collection of case studies from some of the people involved; Neighbourhood approaches to loneliness: our stories Working with your community to address loneliness – top tips from our external evaluators; Working with your community to address loneliness Can do – guidance and tips for negotiating community action; Can do How you can reduce loneliness in your neighbourhood (the process); How you can reduce loneliness in your neighbourhood Let’s talk about loneliness session plans – five one-hour group work sessions to get you thinking and talking about loneliness. Let’s talk about loneliness session plans Lets talk about loneliness - a short film featuring interviews with the communities involved in our research Lets talk about loneliness Free resources