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New year, new opportunities
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Happy New Year from us at the Campaign to End Loneliness!
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As we step into a brand-new year, it’s a time for fresh starts, new goals, and renewed hope. The days are slowly getting brighter, reminding us that even in the coldest months, change and growth are always possible. For many, this is a time to reflect on the past year and to look ahead with a sense of purpose and possibility.
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At the Campaign, we know the New Year can also be a challenging time, especially for those feeling lonely or isolated. That’s why we’re here—to help build connections, spark conversations, and create opportunities for everyone to feel valued and included.
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As a team, we’re aiming to build on the work we began last year, bringing the conversation on loneliness to the forefront, fighting the stigma that surrounds feelings of loneliness, and raising awareness of all the great research being carried out in the field.
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Whether you’re looking to take the first steps toward overcoming loneliness or eager to make a difference in your community, there’s no better time to begin. Together, let’s make 2025 a year filled with connections, friendship, and brighter days ahead.
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What we are thinking about
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Updates from the Campaign
We’ve posted these updates on our social media, but in case they got lost in the build up to Christmas and the New Year, we’d like to reshare them here:
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APPG on Tackling Loneliness and Connected Communities
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The Campaign to End Loneliness/Sheffield Hallam is thrilled to announce that, Intergenerational England will be taking on the role of Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Tackling Loneliness and Connected Communities, with the Campaign to End Loneliness and the Jo Cox foundation as partners.
Loneliness is one of the most pressing issues of our time, impacting individuals across all generations. Collectively, working with policymakers, cross-sector partners, and community voices, we’ll ensure that tackling loneliness remains at the forefront of the national agenda.
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The Campaign to End Loneliness and Centre for Loneliness Studies at Sheffield Hallam University are thrilled to be involved in a new £10 million research centre. Its focus will include connections within communities and the nature of meaningful relationships.
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In case you missed it, last month Dr Antonia Ypsilanti chaired an expert panel to discuss how wellbeing in the UK have been declining, with one of the main contributors being lack of meaningful social connections.
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The panel is available to be viewed online, so you can catch up with the discussions in the link below.
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Intergenerational England, in partnership with the University of Southampton and Connecting Generations programme, are bringing together examples of intergenerational policies and approaches from around the world. Intergenerational England are interested in asking the investigating questions:
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1. What intergenerational policies and approaches have been implemented around the world?
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2. What outcomes are associated with intergenerational policies around the world and who benefited from them?
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3. What barriers and enablers are associated with these policies?
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You can read more on the call for papers on the link below.
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The University of Manchester, The University of Sydney, and Swinburne University of Technology are interested in learning more about loneliness and social isolation for a special edition of the Lancet journal. From one of the team:
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“We are currently investigating what makes it easier or harder to help people overcome loneliness and social isolation for a special edition of the Lancet. As part of this, we have developed a very short survey to better understand the views of different stakeholders (including teachers, clinicians, practitioners, managers and other professionals).
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Whether loneliness or social isolation is a focus in your work or not, your insights are valuable to us- as we all work with individuals who are lonely or socially isolated, even if we don't talk about that explicitly. Thanks very much for your help!
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Tips to help with loneliness
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Find our latest collection of tips to help manage feelings of loneliness in our blog post on the link below.
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Loneliness Around the Globe
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The Annecy Behavioral Science Lab (ABSL) have just concluded their blog series “Connecting the Dots”. You can find their interesting and thought-provoking, blog posts in the announcement they shared below:
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“ABSL has concluded our blog series, Connecting the Dots. Our last articles on LinkedIn discussed how research can affect interventions and policies:
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To stay updated on ABSL's latest projects, you can subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.”
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On our reading list
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This article explores how masculinity norms might contribute to feelings of loneliness and interact with social connections.
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The article raises important discussions about the potential need to reevaluate gender norms, which could help destigmatising emotional vulnerability, and improving mental wellbeing.
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Adolescence is a key time for the forming of social connections and relationships. Recent research shows that the rise of social media and technology might have impacted the formation of these relationships.
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This article investigates this issue using a sample of adolescent students, and suggests how improving social skills and reducing levels of social media addiction could be useful in mitigating feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
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New research on the examination of proteins shows the benefits of social connection on physical health.
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Have a read of the article published by the University of Cambridge to read about the interesting work being done to investigate this phenomenon.
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Dates for your diary
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21st January 2025 – 21:00 (EST)/22nd January 2025 – 02:00 (GMT)/03:00 (CET)/13:00 (AET) – Online
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GILC will be hosting an online lecture as part of their Global Lecture Series. From their post on LinkedIn:
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“Less than 2 weeks until our next lecture as part of the Global Lecture Series.
We will be discussing Evidence & Gap Maps, which play a critical role in supporting evidence-informed decision making and identifying where more research is needed. Our speaker, Vivian Welch (she/her) will be sharing insights based on her work and experiences.
Please don't forget to register for the talk using the QR code below or this link: https://lnkd.in/eFXSeq7w”
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24th January 2025 (Fortnightly) – 12:00 – 13:00(GMT) – Online
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The Tackling Loneliness Hub team are hosting fortnightly online “Coffee Catch-Ups”. From the team:
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“Connect and collaborate at our Coffee Catch-Ups—an hour of open discussions, creative brainstorming, and casual networking with fellow hub members.
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- Loneliness surgeries to troubleshoot challenges.
- Mini hackathons for innovative solutions.
- Networking opportunities to spark new ideas.
Each session will be different so stay tuned to the newsfeed to find out what’s coming up next.
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