Here in NW3, we’ve been inspired by the example of Frome in Somerset. There a “Connectors” program helped to improve health outcomes and reduce admissions to hospital.
How?
Because loneliness is a critical cause of poor health and they worked to reduce the incidence of loneliness locally by fostering connections and offering ways for people to interact and seek help.
We want to do something similar here in NW3. To start off with we simply invited local residents to a social event – 70 people in total turned up. We then created a smaller group to start planning out our activities. Our main focuses are going to be on: creating connections, spotting issues, and mobilizing support.
We can’t wait to see what develops.
Stephen Taylor, NW3 Connectors.