Guidance

Government’s work on tackling loneliness

This page brings together government's work and announcements on loneliness.

• From: Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
• Published: 27 May 2022
• Last updated: 21 June 2023 — See all updates

Tackling loneliness matters to everyone: individuals, employers, communities, educators and health professionals. Supporting people to have meaningful social relationships is not just crucial to people’s physical and mental health. It also affects their engagement in the workplace and wider community cohesion. We all need to take action to tackle loneliness across society, and government can play an important role supporting this.

Objectives

As set out in the 2018 loneliness strategy, three overarching objectives guide the government’s work on loneliness:

1. Reduce stigma by building the national conversation on loneliness, so that people feel able to talk about loneliness and reach out for help.

2. Drive a lasting shift so that relationships and loneliness are considered in policy-making and delivery by organisations across society, supporting and amplifying the impact of organisations that are connecting people.

3. Play our part in improving the evidence base on loneliness, making a compelling case for action, and ensuring everyone has the information they need to make informed decisions through challenging times.

COVID-19

The government launched a major effort to tackle loneliness during the coronavirus outbreak and period of social distancing. Led by the previous Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, the plan aimed to ensure that, for people of all ages and backgrounds, staying at home did not need to lead to loneliness.

It included:

• Let’s Talk Loneliness public campaign to get people talking openly about loneliness, and guidance on supporting yourself and others safely
• a guaranteed £5 million boost for national organisations working to tackle loneliness and build social connections to help them to continue and adapt their critical work
• Loneliness charities including Age UK were supported to work with NHS Volunteer Responders in their communities
• a network of high-profile charities, businesses and public figures joined ‘Tackling Loneliness Network’ formed by government to help connect groups at risk of isolation
• the Tackling Loneliness Network published Emerging Together: The Tackling Loneliness Network Action Plan in May 2021, setting out actions for Network members and government to take to tackle loneliness as part of a connected recovery from COVID-19.

A connected society

‘A connected society: a strategy for tackling loneliness - laying the foundations for change’, published on 15 October 2018, is the world’s first government strategy for tackling loneliness. It builds on years of work by many individuals and organisations, and acts as government’s first major contribution to the national conversation on loneliness and the importance of social connections. This strategy is an important first step, but government is also committed to long-lasting action to tackle the problem of loneliness.

Government has provided updates on the progress made against commitments in the strategy through:

• Loneliness Annual Report: the first year, published in 2020
• Loneliness Annual Report: the second year, published in 2021
• Loneliness Annual Report: the third year, published in 2022
• Loneliness Annual Report: the fourth year, published in 2023

The main strands of government’s current work on loneliness are:

The Every Mind Matters Loneliness Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of loneliness so people understand the problem and stigma is reduced, encouraging people to talk and act on loneliness. The latest campaign was launched in January 2022, and focussed on encouraging young people aged 18-24 to “Lift Someone Out of Loneliness” by carrying out small acts of kindness to help someone who may be feeling lonely.

The Tackling Loneliness Network, a group of high-profile charities, businesses and public figures, formed by the government to help connect groups at risk of loneliness. The members of this network have been challenged to develop innovative ideas and commit to action to tackle loneliness and the commitments were published in the Tackling Loneliness Action Plan. These organisations communicate and share insights through the government’s Digital Platform, the Tackling Loneliness Hub, which allows them to work seamlessly together, sharing data and research.

In combination with these two strands, the government will also drive forward action by continuing to encourage other government departments and more organisations across society to commit to tackling loneliness in their own work.

In line with our objective to build up the evidence base, government is also committed to improving and sharing evidence on loneliness and what works tackling it so people and organisations know how best to act. The tackling loneliness evidence review, published in 2022, highlights the current evidence gaps.

In May 2021 we published our Employers and Loneliness guide, produced by The Campaign to End Loneliness, to act as the starting point to a wider conversation about what organisations can do to address loneliness. It follows a consultation with thirty-four businesses and employers who recognise loneliness in the workplace and support employee’s social wellbeing.

In June 2021, the UK and Japanese Ministers for Loneliness met to discuss tackling loneliness. As outlined in a joint statement, they agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation with: regular meetings between the UK and Japan; sharing knowledge on measures and policy; and working to increase global awareness of loneliness.

Funds

Loneliness Engagement Fund

The Loneliness Engagement Fund provided small grants of up to £50,000 to nine organisations engaging with target groups at high risk of loneliness.

Building Connections Fund

The £11.5 million Building Connections Fund was a partnership between government, The National Lottery Community Fund and The Co-op Foundation. This fund supported 126 projects aiming to help bring communities together and improve the evidence base on what works to tackle loneliness. See further information about the Building Connections Fund, including a full list of grantees.

Loneliness Covid-19 Grant Fund

Government announced £5 million of funding to support national organisations working to tackle loneliness and build social connections to help them to continue and adapt their critical work. We awarded grants of between £500,000 and £1 million to nine organisations. See full list of Loneliness Covid-19 Grant Fund winners.

Local Connections Fund

Government announced a further £4 million Local Connections Fund in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund. It provided funding to a large number of hyperlocal, grassroots organisations helping to build relationships in and across communities to help reduce loneliness.

Publications

See latest publications on the government’s work to tackle loneliness.

Published 27 May 2022
Last updated 21 June 2023 + show all updates

1. 21 June 2023

   Link to fourth annual loneliness report added to this page.

2. 27 May 2022

   First published.