Foreword Mike Adamson Chief Executive, British Red Cross Earlier this year, I met Beryl who lives in a rural part of Cheshire. Suffering from circulatory problems and diabetes, she finds walking difficult and struggles to get to her regular medical appointments. The cost of the taxi fare to her hospital is a huge slice of her state pension. At the British Red Cross, we have supported Beryl d. by arranging transport not only to hospital but also to do her shopping and connect her into the community. Beryl told me that this is a vital lifeline Photo: © Alex Rumsfor for her. Our partnership with Co-op is so important contribution to the available evidence on the because in her state of isolation, Beryl is far from state of loneliness in our communities, and how alone. In over 30 years of delivering independent best to tackle it. It shows clearly how loneliness living services in communities all over the UK, is an urgent public issue with serious personal Red Cross volunteers and staff have supported and societal impacts across the whole of our thousands of other vulnerable people like Beryl. communities, not confined solely to older They come from all backgrounds, are of all ages generations. And it underlines how accessible, and have very different challenges and experiences tailored support can make all the difference to in their lives. people going through changes in their lives, by breaking a potentially inescapable slide from Few of these people come to us simply because vulnerability to disconnection to chronic loneliness. they are lonely. They typically have complex and chronic healthcare needs, often alongside social I would like to thank Kantar Public for their and emotional challenges. But our volunteers thorough research. I would also like to thank and staff have found that a high number of our the many people who contributed – both those service users live alone, and show high levels of who have experienced loneliness in their lives, social isolation and even higher levels of loneliness. and partners from a wide range of organisations Indeed, they have identified loneliness and working to support lonely and isolated people. social isolation as the underlying problems most A key finding in this report is the importance of frequently affecting the people we support – collaboration across organisations in delivering and these people’s situations are becoming ever sustainable solutions. Everyone at the Red Cross more complex. is looking forward to putting this into practice and It’s quite clear that loneliness and social isolation making a real difference with Co-op colleagues is a crisis we cannot ignore, causing untold misery and members, as we work together to provide vital and, ultimately, unnecessary pressure support for thousands of people to reconnect with on hard-pressed statutory services. their communities and help all those experiencing loneliness to have their voices heard. Wanting to take action, we began by ensuring we had a full understanding of the issues. We But we believe our partnership can go further reviewed existing research covering some 40 years than this. By making this research and our wider and commissioned Kantar Public to address the evidence base available, I hope other organisations significant gaps in the evidence base. and individuals can benefit from all of the insight we have brought together and find it valuable in We believe that the insight and research we have informing and further developing their work. We brought together provides a significant can tackle loneliness together. Foreword 4