Webchat with Baroness Barran Tuesday 16th June at 4pm - add your questions here

Milliee

Hello. My daughter is about to be a new mum. She’s very scared about the isolation of going through such a big change, and not having family around her as she usually would if times were different. My Q is what are you doing for new mums and families during this time, when they may feel loneliness while something so big is happening in their lives but can’t even hug their mum for support?

Dear Milliee,

It must be mixed feelings - excitement at your prospective grandchild but sadness not to be able to hug your daughter. There is help out there - from your local volunteer centre, but also a lot of online support. There is a great charity called the Chatty Cafe who are doing online 'cups of tea and chat' which was started by a young mum who felt very isolated herself. Also Mumsnet will have alot of support on offer.

BabsAnn

I think it's great that you are encouraging people to talk about loneliness. But haven't we moved past that now? Don't we need to be taking proper action? GPs should be involved. Everyone needs to visit one, they should have time allowed to spend with people who seem lonely and prescribe websites, social groups etc. But they need to follow up on this too. This pandemic has shown me how isolating it is not to be able to go shopping or just communicate with others doing basic things. If that is denied you because you can't get around as easily then my future looks very bleak.

Dear BabsAnn

You make a good point - but I think that the key is to firstly try and reduce the stigma about loneliness so that it becomes 'ok' to talk about it, and secondly that we offer people choices of how to reduce their sense of loneliness. The Government is rolling out social prescribing across the country so following the route you suggest.

Naoise

I think something that’s really important to acknowledge is that someone doesn’t need to be alone to feel lonely. I have a big family who I’ve kept in touch with through zoom during the pandemic, and I understand I am lucky with this, but I do still feel incredibly lonely at times as I don’t have a lot of friends. How can we approach tackling loneliness for those who aren’t necessarily alone?

Dear Naoise,

You are definitely right. I think that being able to talk about it helps, but also helping someone else - so reaching out to another person who you think might be feeling lonely?

4allweknow

In my younger days I volunteered with older people. Some wanted to go to bingo, to a pub for a pint, the cinema,theatre, visit a library or museum or just chat over a cuppa. The reasons given by many for wanting to go out was that they wanted to feel like everyone else mixing with all ages and seeing what was going on outside their four walls. I used my car for transport, was given fuel costs as well as eg cost of cinema ticket. The organisations involved in providing social activities now all seem to focus on grouping them together. Yes this is more cost effective and for some does help combat loneliness but is not for all. Surely there should be more funding "attached" to an individual to allow them to help combat loneliness in a way they would feel they are still an individual and able to make choices. We keep hearing about babyboomers clogging up the system and being a drain on services. There have been statistics on population growth for decades. Boomers are now in their 70s why does it seem a surprise to Governments that there is now a large population of older people. Why has this not been planned for and systems developed to cope with the resultant needs of older people?

Interesting points 4allweknow - although actually more young people experience loneliness than any other age group which can be surprising. There are definitely things which need funding - but actually some of the simple things in life such as calling someone, writing a letter or going for a walk together don't and can be really helpful.

minimo

Lockdown has improved our relationship with our family. They’ve been calling more and generally taking more of an interest in us. Usually, families are too busy, under too much pressure don’t you thing? You need to be taking a holistic approach on the causes of loneliness rather than just plasterting over them with more lunch clubs or whatever. I want to hear concrete examples of what the government is doing.

Happy to give examples of what the Government is doing Minimo, but in a way your example of how some families have found this a time to be together more isn't something I think that Government should advise on. We are running a big anti stigma campaign called #LetsTalkLoneliness, we are funding charities large and small, and we have set up a new Tackling Loneliness Network with businesses, charities and academics to help us develop better solutions to loneliness in future.

Gj74

You can be more lonely living with a partner who you no longer like or care about but after over 50 years it’s convenient. We share a roof ,nothing else not even conversation so not being able to see daughter and granddaughter is very hard. I’m more lonely than a single person. When will I be able to see my family again?

Sorry to hear how lonely you feel Gj74. You should already be able to see your family again out of doors - up to 5 others, 2 metres apart.

fevertree

Thank you for joining this webchat. Here are my thoughts:

Something is not 'stigmatised' until we say it is. Why is loneliness being 'stigmatised'? It is part of life. I have been lonely in my twenties and at other times, when we moved to new places. I don't believe that funding, or yet more organisations are the answer. It is down to each and all of us to look out for others as best we can, and it is our responsibility as individuals to find ways of being part of the communities and the society we live in, no matter how old we are. I dislike the move to "herd" old people together and deal with their "loneliness".

And stop saying loneliness is stigmatised.

Dear Fevertree

It is a pleasure to join the webchat. I absolutely agree that we can all do something to help others and ourselves, and help create the communities we want to live in. Some of the most heart warming stories I hear are about young and old coming together and sharing their experiences. Regarding stigma - I think we are just acknowledging that many people feel loneliness is their fault and don't feel comfortable to talk about it.

Sandwitch

What other responsibilities do you have as a minister? I’m unclear how it works - is loneliness your only remit? If not, what else are you having to spend time on? And where does loneliness fit into that in terms of your priorities?

Dear Sandwitch - I will try and avoid a long answer! As a minister in the House of Lords, my role is in two bits. Firstly, I deal with all government business relating to my department (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) - so everything from regulation of harmful content on the internet, to tourism, to culture, and the BBC! Secondly, I have a specific responsibility for charities, loneliness, youth social action and a few other things too!! It is certainly varied!

Sawsage2

Age UK have a phone service for lonely people who can request a phone call from them. This should be more widely available, better advertised and financed accordingly, with free telephone 0800 number for people to ring.

Sawsage2, thanks for highlighting this.

EllieBrum

What are the government's targets in terms of loneliness? It all seems a bit woolly to me - a general concern about the present government if I’m honest.

Dear EllieBrum, that is a fair challenge about loneliness targets. We are still in the early days of understanding what works so we don't have a target like 'reduce loneliness by x%' - but we do track it regularly through different surveys.

granoffour

Can anything be done to improve multigenerational relationships? The ‘Ok, boomer’ and ‘snowflake generation’ insults are just awful - annoying on a good day and really upsetting on a bad one. Pitting us against each other and making it into an us and them is really isolating and I think prevents cross-generation friendships.

Dear Granoffour,

Cross generational friendships are really valuable as you suggest. Charities like Cares Family focus on exactly this.

FlorenceG

How important do you think online communities are for tackling loneliness?

FlorenceG, I think that online communities can be a great help for some people but they aren't for everyone. So having a choice is key.

cherrycakeandtea

Thank you for answering my question.

A follow-up, if I am allowed/if there's time! You mentioned in your answer to minimo that you are working with academics and I wondered if you could say more about this? How are you working with academics/researchers/scientists and how are you using evidence to inform the campaign?

Thank you again.

Hi again cherrycakeandtea, we do regularly talk to different academics and try and understand what the impact of loneliness is as well as what works to reduce it. There is a big study being led by UCL at the moment www.marchnetwork.org/research which anyone can take part in - I think that there are over 80,000 people contributing their data. This is tracking how different things, including loneliness have evolved since Covid 19 began. You might want to take a look - they publish their findings each week.

threesugars

Hello, could you be more specific on what the government is doing. At the moment your answers still seem a bit vague. Surely we need to do more than 'highlighting the issue'. We know it's an issue. If you spend anytime on here you can see that. We need action. There are some social options depending on your postcode lottery. It's not enough. We need to actively go out and reach lonely people. It's not enough to just leave this to communities to deal with. We need some proper thought through government intervention. People are dying of loneliness.

Sorry if I wasn't clear threesugars, we are running a social media campaign to raise awareness of the issue with the hashtag #LetsTalkLoneliness, we made grants to national and local organisations so that they can deliver support to people who are lonely - that might be through phone calls, online help or some socially distanced way. We have also tried to talk a lot about the charities who are doing great positive work locally - everything from walking groups to art clubs to singing and more!

LyndaW

Why is more not being done to get more older people online? It’s not perfect but connecting on social media is at least something and accessible even if people are physically isolated. Facebook has been brilliant for staying in touch with my long-distance friends and watching my overseas grandson grow up. It's not a replacement hug but it's something. And could lead to those who are digitally excluded to open themselves up to all the other useful things the internet has to offer.

Dear LyndaW, you are right that getting everyone online is really important. There are old people without access to the internet, but also young children who need access for education and socialising. We have recently given £5m to a range of national charities to help with loneliness and some have included digital inclusion as part of their request so let's hope that makes a real difference.

FruityGrann

How do you go about measuring loneliness? On one day I may feel ok, but on others it’s really crippling.

Dear FruityGrann, there are several very academic ways to measure loneliness but I am not sure that is what you are asking? Rather, some people find it helpful to keep a bit of a diary about how they are feeling, and even include things that seem to make a difference to our mood.