Loneliness

Bradford VCS Alliance

As part of a coordinated befriending approach across Bradford, six organisations were awarded funding to develop some innovative approaches to this work. One of these projects was  New Horizons at Royds in Bradford. They have built on their brilliant befriending programme. The Circles of Support offer a chance for people aged 55+ to get together to befriend each other in a friendly safe environment. This means that once Befrienders have gone, the Befriendees have forged fun friendships which can overflow into their everyday lives making for a more sociable life within their own familiar and safe surroundings. 

Staying Well, Calderdale

The Staying Well service in Calderdale supports and signposts people to local support organisations and groups. The funding the service has received will help local groups and organisations to reach further into communities which we've previously not been able to support as easily as others. Staying Well is also developing a digital/web-based product to enable more people to access information on self care, local health and care groups and services.

Harnessing the Power of Communities in Leeds - Leeds Community Foundation

Leeds Community Foundation aims to improve people’s lives by encouraging local giving and through supporting groups and organisations to address inequalities and working together to help create opportunities for the people in our city who most need a little help.  This funding is enabling us to build on our work  with clinical commissioners in Leeds further, consolidating further the success of the Third Sector Health Grant programme: clear and proven health outcomes, learning and robust evaluation and strong relationships with our city's responsive and dedicated third sector. You can read about this programme here.

Nine local Third Sector Organisations have been funded that bring an established a track record of trust and community empathy and are delivering quite different solutions to working with the communities they are passionate about. Their work is supporting Leeds Plan priorities, particularly in relation to 1. tackling loneliness; 2. carer support in helping people to remain independent; 3. reducing health inequalities and 4. improving overall system performance.

Young Dementia Leeds - Community Links have set up a monthly dementia café for carers and people with dementia to socialise together in a safe space having observed how lonely it can be to be a person with dementia, and a carer of a person with dementia. Often many friends drift away on diagnosis, and behavioural issues can limit social opportunities in a society that is only just learning to become dementia friendly. Carers can become isolated too. Through this funding, Community Links is also devoting time and resources to upskill the workforce in mental health residential settings in order to address parity of esteem, promote healthy eating and link in with the Ministry of Food in Leeds Markets to improve the ability of people with long term mental health needs to prepare home-cooked meals.

Charity Holbeck Elderly Aid works with communities to keep older people socially and physically active. Funding has enabled them to provide an out-of-hours volunteer-led befriending and call service for isolated older people as well as a therapeutic wellbeing space. Ken and Margaret, who attend the group, said: “It sounds silly but you feel like somebody’s thinking about you.  And that they’re interested in you - which is not something we get to experience very often these days.  It makes a big difference having this place.  Like everyone you feel reluctant to go out sometimes.  But it’s better to get out.  Have some interaction and conversation.  It keeps us occupied and not just looking at four walls.”

GIPSIL work across Leeds, primarily with young people in more deprived situations – many of whom are learning how to manage an unplanned pregnancy, leaving school or care and are at risk of feeling isolated and alone. Because of its long track record of working with and empowering young people, in its first two months Gipsil received 22 referrals from 13 different agencies including child adolescent mental health services, GPs, schools, and housing projects. GIPSIL are supporting 16-24 year olds who are vulnerable due to their mental health, their living conditions, caring responsibilities or risky behaviour to  identify strategies for improving their emotional and mental health, engage in positive activities for health, addressing barriers to positive health and encouraging future aspirations.

Hamara is based in inner-city Beeston and because of the high levels of trust they have developed over the last 20 years, they naturally have reach into their local communities in ways that statutory services just aren’t able to manage. Through the funding, they have been able to tailor sessions on “5 Ways to a Healthy Heart” to work with people from the local South Asian communities with high rates of heart conditions – to maximize their empowerment and learning in how to better manage their own health.

Solace provides therapeutic support to refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom carry trauma from fleeing war or persecution, or for whom the impact of the continued uncertainty of their status causes mental health distress. Enforced migration can be particularly isolating and the loneliness experienced by people who do not speak English, or do not have people nearby who speak their home language can be overwhelming. Physical pain is all too often a barrier to people accessing services, so being able to provide sessions of massage therapy and a physical activity stress management group has already improved the counselling and therapy results. Solace provides much needed bi-lingual therapy but through investment can now extend this to helping people look at their whole health and wellbeing and building on people’s resilience and helping them identify their own resources and skills.

Dial Leeds is a citywide organisation run by and for disabled people offering tailored, holistic and practical support around social welfare issues - benefit related issues and associated money difficulties and debt. Through the investment, they are trialing a Happiness Café for some of their more vulnerable foodbank users – to look together at their physical and mental health, and to take charge of their health and happiness by making sustainable longer term changes.

Space 2 have set up three men’s groups in areas of the city where health inequalities are amongst the highest, focusing on reducing loneliness through improved social connectivity, They are offering a range of activities, visits, speakers, peer support and buddying opportunities, using ABCD approaches and creating co-produced health campaigns (including developing a ‘zine on Men’s Health) to share with other men.

LS14 Trust are addressing loneliness and health inequalities through building on community assets in Seacroft, deprived area of Leeds with high health inequalities. They are running activities for all ages like Sporty Snacks, Family Food Clubs, Cafés with different focuses (carers, world culture, arts), and skilling up local people to think about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.