Sarah J spoke with the Campaign to End Loneliness

Laura: Absolutely. We've all got responsibilities to keep all the small connections around us in our neighbourhoods and streets and at work and within our families and friends, to keep those connections alive. We know from the work we've done in the last 12 months that there are so many people out there who do want to help others, that do want to work with those in their older age. On the 31st October this year there was a Make a Difference day run by CSV, Community Service Volunteers, and that was all about combating loneliness and isolation through volunteering. The crucial thing for us too, is that those who are in older age; those who are 50, 60, 70 or above can also become a really key part in helping other people in old age, and helping themselves. It's about people who are older really becoming and staying active in their communities to keep their own connections and the connections of others alive. Everyone has responsibility to combat loneliness in older age.

Sarah J: You also had a report out at the end of 2011; tell me what this new report is talking about.

Laura: Well the report sets out a role for local health commissioners in combating loneliness saying that they should directly address the negative impact of loneliness on health in later life. They can do this by working with and raising awareness of what is already happening in their area. What the report found by surveying 1,500 people, mostly over the age of 65; those people did not know where to go if they were lonely. What we realise is that people just don't know where to go to for help and yet health commissioners are in charge of a large network of people who have direct access to those who are most likely to be at risk of loneliness; so being able to refer or at least promote services in local areas to those people who are at risk of loneliness, we think will fill a really crucial gap in addressing loneliness in older age. We need to be putting people in touch with those services and groups in their local areas that can help them in their time of need when they're feeling most lonely.

Sarah J: So we're saying that there are organisations out there already working on tackling the loneliness agenda, but older people don't seem to know about them?

Laura: That's right. The recommendation in the report is that with almost half the people not knowing where to go, it's that crucial link between what's already out there and the people who can refer people. Most of those people are health workers.

Sarah J: So if health workers were referring, we're saying that people wouldn't be as lonely because they'd be connected to services, but I guess we're also saying that service provision would have to increase as well because of the amounts of people coming through?

Laura: That's right. If people don't know that there's help available to them they're likely to remain lonely and that's particularly problematic in winter when those living alone are more at risk of poor health or feel particularly lonely due to being left out of Christmas celebrations. To tackle loneliness permanently and to tackle the health issues that loneliness can lead to, we think it's vital that those responsible for local health and wellbeing in local areas address the negative impacts of loneliness by referring people to what's already happening in their local areas and raising awareness of local groups and services that will help.

Sarah J: If people want to find out more about the campaign and want to connect with you, how can they do that?

Laura: The best way is to either look at our website or to give us a call on 0207 0121409.

We work with organisations right across the country. We've got around 100 support organisations right across the UK and had contact from abroad as well. We're actually based in London. We have a number of our partner organisations quite near to you, one of them in the Stoke on Trent area. So we are looking to expand the number of supporters and basically we're inviting organisations and individuals to sign up to our cause and say that they believe that this is a really important issue to tackle. Also potentially to get involved in some of our future campaigning projects and information work in 2012. To do that you can get on to the website and become supporters of the campaign. In that way we'll really be able to grow our reach and promote what's already happening out there to combat loneliness.