Bromley residents from all walks of life now have access to better signposting and ways to combat feeling lonely, thanks to the successful delivery of the early stages of the council’s four-year tackling loneliness strategy.
Launched late in 2021 by the council’s then Loneliness Champion, under the auspices of Cllr Diane Smith, Executive Councillor for Adult Services and Health and Cllr Colin Smith, Leader of the Council, the strategy has one main aim: ‘to work towards minimising the effects of loneliness for all the residents of Bromley in whatever guise it might present itself.’
Now a new councillor has picked up the reins as Loneliness Champion and pledges to drive the agenda even further in the borough. Cllr Mike Botting said: “I’d like to thank my predecessor, Cllr Cuthbert, for the work she put in to raise awareness of this pervasive issue.
“The pandemic made it even more difficult for those already feeling alone, so now is definitely the right time to redouble our efforts to talk about the help and support that is out there. Loneliness is an emotion that no one should feel in today’s highly connected world, especially as the consequences can be devastating in terms of health and wellbeing. Anything we can do to alleviate the problem makes sense for the good health of our residents and I look forward to playing my part in supporting further progress.”
The council has also appointed a dedicated officer as a principal loneliness champion to help coordinate the next stages of the strategy’s action plan aimed at building on and enhancing recent achievements. Among the many successes so far are: the commissioning of Simply Connect – a free, easy-to- search, online directory of voluntary organisations poised to help and support residents; signposting services that offer reliable relationships through volunteer befrienders and, most recently, the setting up of a weekly support hub to enable newly-arrived Ukrainian families to connect with others and receive multi-agency advice.
The initial stages of developing the strategy brought together a wide range of partners from health as well as organisations in the voluntary sector to identify what was already on offer and what else needed to be done. Further work will include the continued commitment of partners working together, steered by the council, to make sure that residents can find what they need to help themselves, their families and friends to go on fighting the scourge of loneliness.
Those seeking further information are invited to visit the council’s website in the first instance to see what help is available across the borough: www.bromley.gov.uk/loneliness
The Simply Connect website is at: www.bromley.simplyconnect.uk
Befriending opportunities can be found at: www.bromley.gov.uk/befriending
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