WGPlus (Archive)
Make a point of talking to neighbours |
As Loneliness Awareness Week began last week, a new campaign launched by Loneliness Minister Mims Davies is helping to tackle the stigma of loneliness and encourage people to speak out. ‘Let’s Talk Loneliness’ brings together charities, organisations and businesses including The Marmalade Trust, the Co-op Foundation, the British Red Cross, the Campaign to End Loneliness, Mind, Public Health England and the Jo Cox Foundation to help people talk about their feelings. It comes as a new poll shows that not wanting to burden others is the main barrier to people talking about their feelings of loneliness. The survey also showed that young people aged 18-24 are most likely to say they have felt lonely (75%). In contrast, 63% of people aged 55 and over said they never feel lonely. As part of Loneliness Awareness Week, the government has also announced it is partnering with the Co-op Foundation to match-fund a new £1.6m initiative that supports activity in community spaces to promote social connections. The government is also investing £1m in a Tech to Connect Challenge Prize. Applications are open from the 26th June 2019 to the 7th August 2019. The Prize, which will be designed & delivered by charitable foundation Nesta, aims to find tech solutions to the problem of social isolation. Charities and social enterprises are urged to apply as up to £500,000 will be up for grabs to incentivise social tech innovation. |
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DCMS: ‘Let’s Talk Loneliness’ campaign launched to tackle stigma of feeling alone Let’s Talk Loneliness campaign Bright but in a strange / new environment Technology reaches to help dispel loneliness Looking for solutions to a growing problem |