Loneliness Part 1

A few years ago, one of the churches of which I have the privilege to be minister observed that for various reasons they were no longer really connecting in a meaningful way with their local community.  Some of the church members made a commitment to meet together every Friday morning to pray, particularly focussing on seeking to hear from God how they should respond to the situation.

The group faithfully met together for several months (in fact, they still meet each week to pray for the local community).  Over time, the theme which they sensed God laying on their heart was loneliness.  In due course they felt led to set up a weekly event in the local library where people can drop by, have some light refreshments and most importantly, create new friendships.  The success of that group has been remarkable, and over the years many new and greatly valued friendships have been created.

Over recent years, the issue of loneliness (particularly among older people) has increasingly been described in the media as an ‘epidemic’. Over half of all people aged 75 and over live alone, and around 10 per cent of the general population aged over 65 in the UK is lonely all or most of the time. As our population ages, the risk of social isolation for people aged 65 and over is increasingly becoming a major public health issue.

There is national and international evidence of the negative impact that loneliness and isolation can have on quality of life. One study found that having weak social connections carried a health risk equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic. Loneliness is also considered more harmful than not exercising and twice as harmful as obesity.  The creation story in the Bible tells us that after God had created Adam, he said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone’ (Genesis 2.18).  That is still true!

The church I mentioned earlier realised that although their drop-in initiative was working well, it didn’t touch those who found it difficult to physically get to the library.  After much thought and prayer, they instigated a local branch of Linking Lives, an initiative which supports socially isolated older people by arranging for volunteers to visit older people on a regular basis.

Of course, such an initiative involves costs.  With this in mind, I will be taking part this week in something called The Loneliness Lock-In, which aims to raise awareness of the issue of social isolation and loneliness, whilst also raising funds for Linking Lives.  This entails spending approximately 24 consecutive hours in isolation, including not seeing or speaking to anyone else, and having no access to electronic devices, including mobile phones and wi-fi!

If you would like to make a financial donation, please click here

It would be impossible for me to fully experience the loneliness felt by those who spend day after day, week after week in social isolation.  However, I will be interested to see how the experience impacts me, and will report back in due course!