Council to tackle loneliness to prevent major health problems across North Yorkshire

A new scheme is being launched to ensure that residents in North Yorkshire who are experiencing the effects of loneliness are given advice and help to prevent the profound impact that the isolation can have on their health.

North Yorkshire Council is co-ordinating the project, which is providing funding to charities and community groups to target those most in need, especially across the vast rural areas of England’s largest county.

Grants under the Stay Healthy, Independent and Connected project have been awarded to 25 organisations to help to point residents experiencing loneliness to specialist support and engage more in their communities.

Research has shown that loneliness can prove to be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes per day, and people enduring isolation are 50 per cent more likely to die prematurely than those with healthy social relationships.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Michael Harrison, said: “The effects of loneliness are wide-ranging and often complex, and can affect anyone from any section of society.

“It is obviously a problem that is of huge concern across the whole of the country, but in North Yorkshire there are very specific issues we are having to deal with.

“So many communities live in deeply rural areas and it is often difficult to reach those most in need. But this new co-ordinated approach, which is being led by North Yorkshire Council, will provide life-changing support and help to ensure that we tackle loneliness as effectively as possible.”

The new prevention grants were launched at the same time as the new council at the start of April and a total of £450,000 in funding is being provided through the authority’s health and adult services directorate.

The funding is being used to help promote activities and events through community organisations, such as luncheon clubs, coffee mornings and gardening clubs to engage with people experiencing loneliness.

Work is also under way to support community transport schemes to ensure that those experiencing loneliness are given the ability to travel to events.

The project is building on the close links that were forged with community support organisations, which proved invaluable during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as existing initiatives, such as the council’s Living Well service.

The free initiative aims to improve the health, well-being and independence of adults, with co-ordinators providing support for people who are often experiencing social isolation.

The prevention grants will also dovetail with an existing scheme to create community anchors across North Yorkshire.

A total of £1.5 million in funding, which was announced in March and will be spread over the next three years, will help to build the capacity of community and voluntary groups to act as key points of contact for the council, providing hubs for the public to access advice and support and to increase resilience in communities.