#Lets Talk Loneliness Bury
Are you passionate about your local community?
Then we need you!
Loneliness and social isolation are some of the biggest challenges facing our society and local communities, effecting people’s health and wellbeing. It can affect people of all ages and all backgrounds
Before her death in 2016, MP Jo Cox set up the Loneliness Commission. The vision was that people come together to help one another, recognising that as Jo Cox is known to have said ‘we have more in common than divides us’
Loneliness does not discriminate and can affect anyone at any age, from any background, at any time of life. Even those with people and support around them may not feel connected and may feel lonely. We all will have likely experienced feelings of loneliness at some point in time, however, it is when it is continuous and day to day normality, that it becomes chronic and likely to impact on our health and wellbeing.
Earlier in the year a motion was passed at Council, asking for a Loneliness strategy to be formulated along with an action plan outlining activities required to tackle loneliness in Bury.
Before her death in 2016, MP Jo Cox set up the Loneliness Commission, this is now co-chaired by Seema Kennedy MP and Rachel Reeves MP. Over the past year this has grown and gained momentum and now highlights the detrimental impact of loneliness on people’s lives and the economy. Government have appointed Tracey Crouch as the world’s first Minister for Loneliness.
The commissions vision is that people come together to help one another with as little as a conversation, recognising that as Jo Cox is known to have said ‘we have more in common than divides us’. It shouldn’t take a disaster or crisis for community intervention to occur but this should be an everyday normal part of life.
Society today generates calls on our time, more pressure from home, school and work; less time to meet and get to know one another. Technology provides us with a tool to meet and create links on line and there are so many opportunities in our local area to become connected to local people, service and support in person. Despite the available support and opportunities many people are still lonely and isolated so it’s how we identify, signpost, support or connect those people.
The Commissions work is about starting a conversation to ensure the future is one of connection, kindness and community not isolation, separation and loneliness.
Earlier this year Bury Council Senior Leadership Team Meeting reviewed and endorsed the Jo Cox Commission. Noting that chronic loneliness is unhealthy and leads to many physical and mental health problems which can affect anyone at any stage of their life. Research has shown a disconnected society could be costing the UK economy £32 billion a year and also has a detrimental negative impact on communities locally in Bury.
The Commission has started a call to action at all levels; at Government level there is an expectancy of national government to provide national leadership with a national strategy for loneliness across all ages. This will likely include a set of national measures, annual reporting and also stimulation of innovation, provide seed funding for communities and scale up and spread promising approaches.
Bury Council has offered its support to the Commission and as part of that has developed a strategy, brief report and action plan setting out how we as an authority with partners and in conjunction with our Councillors can combat loneliness and isolation locally.