Richard Pennycook Chief Executive, Co-op I’m very pleased to introduce this report, which brings together findings from UK-wide research capturing the first-hand accounts of loneliness with six previously underrepresented groups of people. It also marks the next vital stage in our partnership with the British Red Cross enabling us to develop an evidence based campaign for tackling loneliness. The Co-op has a long history of campaigning, which started when the Rochdale Pioneers formed the first customer owned co-op in 1844. They gave their community safe food at a fair price and since then we’ve continued to make a Photo: © Co-op. stand on issues of importance to our members. bereavement has caused them to start to From pioneering Fairtrade to tackling climate feel disconnected. change, the Co-op has been at the forefront of responding to societal issues. What’s clear is that that our partnership with the British Red Cross will be vital in reconnecting Our decision to turn our attention to the issue of thousands of those who’ve become critically loneliness and social isolation was in response isolated and lonely. to our members and colleagues. We know that it is an issue that affects one in seven of our But, as with so many social health issues, this members, and more than one in ten Co-op report sets out how all aspects of society - colleagues, and some 80,000 of our members individuals, businesses, community groups or and colleagues took part in a vote for us to NGOs - can play a role in terms of prevention partner with the British Red Cross. Since then and early response. Having identified some of they have been fundraising and have raised the triggers to loneliness beyond aging we millions of pounds to help fund British Red Cross can look at how we engage and mobilise our services that tackle loneliness. business, our colleagues and members and help build more resilient communities wherein more This report is both humbling and inspiring to people have more ways to stay connected. read. I’m very grateful to those who were willing to share with us their personal experience As with previous campaigns, our commitment of loneliness, and those who shared their to tackling loneliness has to be a long-term one. knowledge as experts in the field, which has It’s a complicated societal issue that can’t be helped us to understand with far greater clarity solved in one or two years by one organisation the factors that cause it and the interventions that alone but we’re committed to long-term, could prevent or lesson its impacts. sustainable solutions. One insight that really stands out is that no With the understanding we now have we are one is immune to loneliness, and certainly it ready to start the challenging but exciting job does not just impact the elderly. Many people of addressing one of the major social issues of who experience it, have at one point been our age. ‘connected’ but a life change such as becoming a mother, going through a divorce or separation, deteriorating health or mobility, retirement, or Foreword 5