Open Door Warminster: Supporting people to feel connected
In our latest blog, Debs Gogarty from Open Door Westminster shares why the organisation was set up and how they are supporting people to feel connected, valued and part of the community.
"Open Door Warminster was conceived around a kitchen table at the start of the pandemic. Six people who didn’t know each other but were united by a desire to make a difference for anyone feeling isolated or excluded from the community."
The government is committed to reducing the number of lives lost to suicide, and this cross-government strategy sets out how they will achieve this reduction over the next 5 years. In developing this strategy, they have set out how they can build on the progress made over the last 11 years, while identifying and responding to new and emerging concerns.
Developed for US local change makers and leaders, this guide will help you create tailored social connection strategies for your community. It includes a stepwise process to engage partners and community members, identify priorities, create a plan, and measure results. The guide also includes research-backed resources and promising strategies for community connection.
A newly launched service by the NSPCC. Building Connections is an online service for young people up to the age of 19, empowering them to find a way through loneliness. Young people work with a trained befriender, who guides them and champions them each step of the way.
The British Academy Innovation Fellowships Scheme is currently open for applications, and DCMS tackling loneliness hope to welcome a researcher into the team next March. This scheme provides funding and support for established early-career and mid-career researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences. More information on the loneliness fellowship can be found here, under section 3a.
This is a £10m Grant Fund to support suicide prevention activities delivered in England by non-profit organisations. The funding period is from financial year 2023 to 2024 to the end of the financial year 2024 to 2025.
This research draws on data from the BBC Loneliness experiment to examine differences in loneliness for ageing migrants compared to non-migrants. The study distinguishes between ‘cultural migrants’ who have come to the UK from a collectivist culture and ‘similar-culture’ migrants who have come from an ‘individualist culture’. As well as this cultural difference, the influence of social environment (social capital, discrimination and ageism) and social situation (e.g. marital/cohabiting status) are examined. Findings showed no differences in loneliness between the groups. They also indicate the importance of social environment/structural factors as well as the protective role of individual engagement in ‘active’ coping strategies which are aimed at initiating new social contacts.
This review of 53 systematic research reviews takes place in the context of a rapidly expanding field of research to provide an up-to-date overview of evidence on the connection between loneliness/social isolation/other constructs related to social relationships and particular diagnosed mental health conditions/symptoms. The reviews included 1657 studies of which 340 were longitudinal. Depression and psychosis were most commonly investigated. There was evidence of an association with depression for most of the loneliness/social relationship measures. However, even for depression, there is limited longitudinal evidence. Gaps in the evidence for other conditions are highlighted and discussed.
Come along to this co-working session to connect with others and learn how you can set up and run your own focus groups. This is a collaborative and supportive session facilitated by Professor Andrea Wigfield (Centre for Loneliness Studies).
An exciting launch webinar as they introduce the Action Guide for Building Socially Connected Communities. During this interactive webinar, you will hear from the Action Guide authors and local leader contributors. There will also be opportunity to engage and share in small-group breakouts.
Drawing on our expertise in loneliness and connection, our Loneliness Explored e-learning module is designed to help individuals understand the risk factors for loneliness and how it can affect our mental and physical health, as well as promising approaches that can help.
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We believe that people of all ages need connections that matter. We have been experts in the field of loneliness and connection since 2011 and our vision is that everyone can live a life free from chronic loneliness.
Do you have news or thoughts that you would like to share with people working on loneliness and others who are interested? Email info@ctel.blazeoven.co.uk.uk
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