Tackling Loneliness Through Community Inclusion
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2022!
The Mental Health Foundation have chosen the theme of Loneliness for 2022, which has been spotlighted across society in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are seeing record levels of loneliness, even now that restrictions have lifted. A lot of focus across the third sector is currently on helping people to get back into their communities, in order to begin tackling isolation and its harmful effects.
This week, we caught up with the Inverclyde Shed to chat about loneliness, mental health, and the ways in which they try to increase local wellbeing through inclusion, pairing up socialising with access to green space and Nature. Read on to find out more!
Inverclyde Shed
Bruce Newlands, Shed Treasurer said, “The Shed provides spaces for people to meet, make, grow & share, tackling loneliness through activities and opportunities to have social contact and make genuine friends. During the lockdown periods, Shed members experienced some profound loneliness. Although this was partly alleviated through weekly teleconferencing, there was no real substitute for meeting in person and being involved in shared projects. Many of our members were in the vulnerable age group for COVID, and this, coupled with lack of access to friends, created increased social anxiety and sadness. Loneliness has been an increasing problem in our community due to changing demographics, deteriorating mental health & the impact of economic hardship on traditional manufacturing areas like Inverclyde.
The Shed tries to tackle the increasing prevalence of loneliness in our society by providing intergenerational projects & activities that help connect people over shared interests and learning new skills. We find that peer to peer support, “shoulder to shoulder" creates genuine friendships and lasting, meaningful experiences that build confidence and provide a support network for people to connect to their community."
More information on the Shed and its activities can be found on:
Inverclyde Life at: https://inverclydelife.com/services/inverclyde-shed
and The Shed website: https://inverclydeshed.co.uk/
Useful Links
If you’re feeling lonely, there are lots of opportunities to get involved in the Inverclyde community.
Check out the Inverclyde Life website – a directory of organisations, charities, and volunteering opportunities available in Inverclyde. There is a huge variety of activities on offer, and you can search for things that interest you most, create your own personal directory to keep your interests organised, and sign-up for the e-bulletin to keep up-to-date with the latest news from Inverclyde’s third sector:
The Mental Health Foundation have lots of resources available. They set the theme for each May Mental Health Awareness Week, so have plenty of resources on loneliness available to access on their website:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week
The Stress Management Society also have a huge variety of resources to help deal with stress and its impact on our mental health. Their website is packed full of resources, links and monthly challenges to help improve mental, as well as physical, health and wellbeing:
Getting involved in the local community can be a great way of socialising, meeting new people, and doing something meaningful. There are lots of volunteering opportunities listed on: https://volunteerinverclyde.com/index-classic
You can register your interest and find opportunities that suit you on the website. You can also follow CVS Inverclyde and Volunteer Inverclyde on social media where we are advertising volunteering opportunities that urgently require volunteers as soon as possible.
Author:
Megan Murray
Publish Date:
May 9, 2022