1. 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

2. What exactly is loneliness?
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
Loneliness describes the pain of being alone as solitude describes the joy of being alone
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

3. Loneliness in the UK
Almost half of adults in England say they experience feelings of loneliness

4. Loneliness = A serious risk to health

5. What causes loneliness?
A range of ‘risk factors’ increase our vulnerability to loneliness:
Wider society:
Transport
Physical environment
Community
Housing
Technology
Crime
Population changes
Personal:
Poor health
Sensory loss
Loss of mobility
Less income
Bereavement
Being out of work
Other change, e.g. becoming a carer

6. A neighbourhood approach - Action Research
Place based approach to loneliness
Asset based community development, action research
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

7. The neighbourhoods – York & Bradford

8. NEIGHBOURHOOD APPROACHES TO LONELINESS

9. What are the issues affecting people in the four neighbourhoods

10. 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
Community researchers are now activists – sharing the key messages

11. Key messages from the programme
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

12. Anyone can be lonely, even busy people
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 ?
We have a lot to consider

13. Can do – guidance and tips for negotiating community action;
Free resources
This resource pack brings together the lessons and experiences from the programme and includes:
Loneliness resource pack - session plans, causes and ideas, case studies …
Can do – guidance and tips for negotiating community action;
Evaluation - Can neighbourhood approaches to loneliness contribute to peoples wellbeing
Lets talk about loneliness - a short film featuring interviews with the communities involved in our research