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Editor's thoughts
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Hello everyone, welcome to our festive season newsletter, the final edition of what has been a very significant year for the Campaign to End Loneliness and our strategic partners as we collaboratively move forwards together supporting those living with loneliness, across the life course within all communities, through awareness raising, stigma smashing, campaigning, researching and putting lived experience central to the dialogue.
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We hope that wherever in the world you find yourself reading this edition you derive some inspiration, hope and sense of community from knowing that you are part of a movement for change that recognises the importance of combatting loneliness and its toxic effects upon all peoples and communities.
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Christmas and New Year can be a time which accentuates feelings of loneliness and hopelessness, reminding people of loved ones lost, relationships ended and chapters of life that we have transitioned through; a time of reflection, and (potentially) mourning and grieving. It is that exact time, therefore, that we all must double our efforts to engender hope, allyship, and purpose through our collaborative efforts!
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We recently had an email from a reader in North America who complimented our newsletter and told us that there is a growing audience in that part of the world. Thank you so much for your support and interest. We’d love to hear from readers around the world, tell us where you are when you read our newsletters and support us please? If you’re agreeable with having your name and location mentioned we’ll put you in our newsletter also (perhaps we’ll start a new section for ‘Readers around the world’? I also thought about a ‘Letters to the Editor’ section perhaps, if that would be of interest also? You could tell us your thoughts about loneliness and how you combat it/support others perhaps? Let us know your thoughts please on info@campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk
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Within this edition we will take you on a journey through the monumental moments of 2025, with regards to the Campaign to End Loneliness and our partners, and will showcase where we are and where we aspire to go in 2026.
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A year through the eyes of the Campaign to End Loneliness team…
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Conference on Youth Loneliness at Royal Danish Embassy, London; March ‘25
Colleagues were proud and privileged to be invited to the Royal Danish Embassy in London in March to attend, and present at, a Conference on Youth Loneliness. Powerful awareness raising and networking took place that set a very positive and proactive momentum for the year ahead.
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Complete research on loneliness in the Film and TV sector for the Film and TV charity; June ‘25
Professor Andrea Wigfield and Dr Olly Hawkins authored an insightful and thought-provoking report about ‘Loneliness in the Film and TV Industry, published in June, following an extensive collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University / the Campaign to End Loneliness and the Film and TV Charity. The report can be viewed here.
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The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Loneliness and Connected Communities; July ‘25
The Campaign team are honoured to have been one of the founding members of the newly created All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Loneliness and Connected Communities this year, helping to tackle loneliness and build more connected communities, marking a significant step towards making social connection a national priority. The APPG will champion solutions that are people-led, intergenerational and rooted in communities, providing a platform for inquiry, connection and collaboration across Parliament and beyond.
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Chaired by Paul Davies MP and Lord Shaun Bailey and with Intergenerational England appointed as Secretariat, the group is bringing together cross-party Parliamentarians, sector leaders and community voices to explore and address the growing impact of loneliness across the UK; achieved through regular meetings and events at Westminster and the Campaign to End Loneliness APPG Roadshow that will tour the UK in 2026 seeking views, opinions and lived experience best practice relating to a variety of topics (more about the roadshow later in this newsletter).
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Colleagues were honoured to attend and present at the launch event of the APPG, in September, and collaborate at a Market Place event, in November, both in the Houses of Parliament.
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Strategic planning for the 2026 Campaign to End Loneliness Roadshow
In conjunction with attending the APPG events at Westminster colleagues have been engaged throughout the year in planning the 2026 Roadshow; touring the UK to engage with communities, showcase best practice where it exists and collect the opinions and lived experience of the general public around the UK, around tackling loneliness and smashing the related stigma, in order to feed the APPG in Westminster as it commences a series of Roundtable exercises centred upon specific aspects of tackling loneliness in a unified, evidenced and strategic fashion.
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The 2026 Roadshow will be/is anticipated to be attending these localities on the following dates, with the stated topic areas (and with the following APPG Roundtables discussing learning gained and best practice identified);
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3rd March ’26; Edinburgh – ‘Housing & Place’
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18th March ’26 – APPG Roundtable Event on Housing & Place
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13th April ’26; Hastings – ‘Health & Wellbeing’
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May (date to be fixed) – APPG Roundtable Event on Health & Wellbeing
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18th June ‘26; Manchester – ‘Culture, Creativity & Sport’
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July (date to be fixed) - APPG Roundtable Event on Culture, Creativity & Sport
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September ‘26 (date to be fixed); Bristol – ‘Youth & Education’
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(Date to be fixed) – APPG Roundtable Event on ‘Youth & Education’
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October ’26 (date to be fixed); Doncaster – ‘Workforce & Employment’
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(Date to be fixed) – APPG Roundtable Event on ‘Workforce & Employment’
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Campaign Director, Professor Andrea Wigfield, invited to Chair the Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection Initiative GILC Policy and Advocacy Committee; September ‘25
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The Campaign team were proud and excited that our Director, Professor Andrea Wigfield, accepted the role of Chair of the Policy and Advocacy Committee of the Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection (GILC) in 2025. This is an exciting development and will enable the Campaign to make closer links to our international colleagues working on loneliness across the globe.
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The Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection (GILC) is comprised of non-profit organisations committed to ending the pressing global issues of loneliness and social isolation through awareness, research, supporting implementers of evidence-based practices, and advocating policy change. They support these organisations through the dissemination of system-wide, national approaches and global strategies to build social connection. Here’s a link to their website for further information.
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Centre for Collaboration on Community Connectedness; November ‘25
This year marked the launch of an ambitious, exciting and world-leading new research centre on community connectedness in Sheffield, ‘The Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness (C4)’, embedding new partnerships of universities and voluntary / community sector organisations and focussing on supporting and strengthening connectedness and participation in place-based communities across the UK. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), who use government funding for large research projects, the centre will receive £9.7million from ESRC over 5 years.
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C4 will look at how some communities have achieved high levels of social capital and connectedness, and whether best practice and learning gained can be translated across communities and geographic areas.
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C4 will co-produce a programme of work that tests different approaches to:
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- strengthening social connectedness
- community and civic participation
- interpersonal and institutional trust.
The work of the centre will lead to better outcomes for communities through new models of community action, to drive local responses to challenges including poverty, low levels of health and wellbeing, the climate emergency and weak social cohesion. It will also drive stronger democratic processes through new community relationships between policy makers and communities.
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More can be found out about the C4 centre here.
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Partnered with Oma’s Soep to run two intergenerational soup making activities for older members of the community, students, young people and staff of Sheffield Hallam University; October & December ‘25
Our team were inspired to be part of the two intergenerational soup making events that brought Oma’s Soep over to the UK from the Netherlands for the first time. Between us we are truly learning by doing and designing an evolving event that brings peoples and communities together through the conduit of preparing, cooking and eating a delicious soup.
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The conversations had and the friendships renewed and started have been tangible and significant. We are now excited to be organising our next event with Oma’s Soep in the new year and this model will be utilised also as part of the 2026 Roadshow that you read about earlier. Read more about Oma’s Soep here.
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Hosted various visits from Korea from representatives from the Korean Government and other organisations there to discuss the Campaign’s activities, social prescribing in the UK; November ‘25
Campaign colleagues were proud to welcome visitors from the Korean Government and research community over to Sheffield on more than one occasion in 2025 to hear more about our loneliness activities and to plan potential collaborations together going forwards next year. We are currently planning our next visit at the time of writing this newsletter and feel that this is a relationship that will become significant. The more we work across communities internationally the more opportunities we will develop to translate learning and best practice to combat loneliness. Watch this space!
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Lego – build the change initiative - podcast with competition in schools to create a solution to solution through Lego; November ‘25
What an inspirational initiative and developing relationship this is! Lego is a global brand, recognised everywhere, which has a social conscience and a real power to help combat loneliness through the Lego Foundation. In November colleagues were very excited to be part of a Lego ‘Build The Change’ Programme event.
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Professor Wigfield recorded a podcast on loneliness which was taken round schools to act as inspiration and students subsequently produced ‘solutions’ to loneliness through Lego, which were presented at an event in Lego headquarters in London. We look forward to seeing this exciting relationship flourish and evolve in 2026. Read more about the Build The Change Programme here & here and their ‘Learning Through Play’ way of thinking here.
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There is also an associated Lego podcast, made by Professor Andrea Wigfield, that we highlight in the podcast section of this edition.
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British Embassy Berlin; November ‘25
I was extremely proud to represent the Campaign team at the British Embassy in Berlin in November for ‘Alone Together – An Interfaith Discussion’. Co-hosted by Kieran Drake, the Deputy Head of Mission, and by the External Relations Office of the Baháʼí community in Germany, this was a powerful first step in a relationship for the Campaign that will continue into 2026 with further opportunities to collaborate upon interfaith loneliness internationally. Conversations are already taking place back in the UK with the Baháʼí community and we are excited to see where this will lead. The External Relations Office of the Baháʼí community in Germany are currently planning a series of roundtable events focussed upon interfaith loneliness for 2026 and the Campaign hopes to support and contribute to these; watch this space for more information.
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Partnered with Give us a word to work with students and staff and SHU to write letters and Christmas cards to older people living in residential care at Christmas time; December ‘25
The Campaign team is honoured to have collaborated with The Give A Few Words CIC, and its founder Sharon Wilkinson, upon a really powerful and inspiring letter and Christmas card writing initiative at Sheffield Hallam University recently this year. There’s such connection in receiving a handwritten letter or handmade card, skills that seem to be disappearing in our new digital world of emails and social media. Find out more about Sharon and her fantastic work here and see a powerful short film here.
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The Good Morning Britain ‘Million Minutes’ Loneliness Campaign
The Campaign team is proud to be a partner with ITV and the Good Morning Britain programme for the ‘Million Minutes’ campaign that targets loneliness across communities and age groups through volunteers pledging their time. Read more about the campaign here.
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‘Calendar for Connection for 2026’
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The Campaign team are excited and proud to have teamed up with the Sheffield Hallam University Print Shop and produced a ‘Calendar for Connection for 2026’. There’s still time to order your copy and support the work of the Campaign. The link to purchase is here.
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What we are thinking about
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Loneliness and Christmas
Here’s a few articles that discuss loneliness at Christmas;
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Research update;
Here’s a few Christmas related research articles;
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Loneliness around the UK
A series of articles for you highlighting the great work being done around the UK over the Festive Period;
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Tackling Loneliness Hub (webinar & blog update)
Upcoming webinars;
Jan 8, 2026 12:00; Coproducing solutions to perinatal loneliness – working together to change policy and practice
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Join for a thought-provoking session exploring how research, lived experience, and collaboration can drive better support for people facing perinatal loneliness. This event will look at why coproduction matters, what it looks like in practice, and how working in partnership can shape more responsive policy and services.
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Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe (University of York) and Amy Chidley (Lived Experience Facilitator/Advisor) will share insights from their work, reflect on the realities of perinatal loneliness, and discuss practical ways to embed coproduced approaches across organisations and systems.
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Podcasts
The Lego Podcast of Professor Andrea Wigfield can be found here. The Lego ‘Build The Change; The Planet People Podcast’ series can be found here.
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Loneliness and holistic activities
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The power of holistic activities to mitigate loneliness is becoming ever more widely acknowledged. Be it getting out in nature, exercising at the gym, gardening, cookery, visiting the allotment etc, it can be a great way of managing loneliness.
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This section highlights and showcases community/peer support initiatives that address this issue. Any submissions in this area, to be included in future newsletters, please forward to us at info@campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk. Thank you.
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Lifestyle advise
Some lifestyle advise over the festive period to help prevent loneliness and look after ourselves;
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Photo of the month
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The power of food (from preparing the ingredients, to cooking the ingredients and finally to eating the results) to bring people and communities together is significant.
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By being mindful of the whole ceremony of food we truly begin to see each other, listen and hear each other and bond over common experiences. We sincerely hope that Andrea and Jan counted their fingers after this extremely dexterous display of talking whilst they chopped the vegetables…?
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Let us have your photos for the January newsletter and we’ll choose one to be published. Thank you. Send photos / articles to us at info@campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk. Thank you.
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On our reading list
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Keeping up the Christmas theme here’s a book that’s on the Sunday Times Bestseller list. I was away this weekend with family and a relative was reading it and recommends it (thank you Sabrina)… Read more here.
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Dates for your diary
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8th January ’26, 12.00-1.00pm; Tackling Loneliness Hub Online Webinar - Coproducing solutions to perinatal loneliness – working together to change policy and practice (registration link found above)
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3rd March ’26; Campaign to End Loneliness Roadshow in Edinburgh; details to be confirmed regarding location, timings and content.
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13th April ’26; Campaign to End Loneliness Roadshow in Hastings; details to be confirmed regarding location, timings and content.
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18th June ‘26; Campaign to End Loneliness Roadshow in Manchester; details to be confirmed regarding location, timings and content.
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If you have dates, of local events centred around loneliness, that you would like included within this newsletter each month let us know on info@campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk
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That’s it for another month!
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We hope you have enjoyed this Festive Period newsletter. We think you’ll agree with us that 2025 has been an incredible year, filled with progress, momentum and opportunities to collaborate and move forwards together! We cannot wait for 2026 to start so we can continue our exciting journey with you all!
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Please let us know your thoughts, give us your feedback on info@campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk and let’s evolve and move forward on this journey, supporting those experiencing loneliness, together.
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Until the January newsletter we bid you farewell and wish all our readers, supporters and allies a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with happiness, health, hope and purpose!
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Richard & the Campaign to End Loneliness team
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