Loneliness.
At this time of year most of us think about those who are without family or friends. Research shows 9 million say they are always or often lonely.
Happily however many people are now asking about the causes of loneliness and how everyone can help reduce it permanently.
The Jo Cox Commission chaired by Seema Kennedy MP and Rachel Reeves MP this month published a call to action: Combatting loneliness one conversation at a time
The commission calls for national and local leadership; better information about the incidence of loneliness; funding for new ways of tackling it; and a recognition by individuals and organisations that they have essential parts to play.
In Throwing a new light on loneliness, a speech to Policy Exchange (11/12/17) Rachel Reeves shows vividly what is going wrong in our ‘disconnected society’. She makes a powerful case for changing the way we think about loneliness – and what we do about it.
It’s possible, she thinks, to allow greater respect for traditions and places that connect people to their neighbourhood; to help children socialise better, for example by expanding the National Citizen Service; and to ask firms and all organisations to think how they could become ‘social connectors’.
And she shows the consequences of expecting many of those who work in public services – in housing and employment, and as teachers, social workers and probation officers – to be parts of an ‘industrial’ system rather than relate to people on a human level.
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