How to turn Yorkshire from loneliness hotspot to leading place for community connections: Lucy Mort

In one focus group at a community centre in Scarborough, a woman that teaches in a local high school told us how some of the pupils cannot afford to go to the beach. Others in the group were surprised, but she swiftly rattled off a whole raft of expenses that a family going out for a day by the seaside might face. The cost of the bus, some chips, perhaps an ice cream, a bucket and spade to keep the kids entertained. As the costs rack up, the likelihood that a family might decide to instead stay at home increases.

With the cost of living crisis biting, more and more people across the region are likely to be doing similar mental arithmetic and asking themselves, can I afford to go out? Just as we take steps to recover and reconnect after almost two years of pandemic-related social distancing, the current economic situation risks keeping many people behind closed doors and away from their communities, increasing the likelihood of people feeling isolated and lonely.

The Yorkshire and Humber region is, according to official statistics, already a ‘hotspot’ for loneliness when compared to the rest of England. Eight per cent of Yorkshire folks say they feel lonely often or always compared to seven per cent nationally.

But this should not be a cause for despondency. Yes, the statistics tell us something important, but there’s also lots of cause for hope in the region. In all corners of Yorkshire, community groups and organisations are doing their bit – through sport, food, nature, arts and culture, to name but a few - to carve out the time and space where people can come together, get to know one another and feel connected.

In Batley we heard about a community organised Iftar, held one summer’s evening, where people from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds came together to share a meal, listen to poetry, and watch their children play together.

In Scarborough, one participant told us about how she’d got involved in a free storytelling workshop that helped resident’s perform their own personal stories of trials, tribulations and triumphs to a live audience – allowing her to connect with others over shared experiences and make new friends in the town.

So there are brilliant things happening all over the region that bring people together, though often they’re at the whim of funding decisions. After doing this research, it’s evident that making resources available to enable people to truly and meaningfully connect with others in their community is vital – and not simply a ‘nice to have’.

Connecting with others is important to protect against loneliness, but it can also be the foundations for stronger communities all round. Making connections and friendships with people who are different from us is the stuff that makes our communities stronger, more cohesive, and better able to weather challenges.

Our research intentionally involved people living in Yorkshire from all walks of life, including people from refugee, asylum seeking and migrant communities. People who have migrated to make their home in Yorkshire are a vital part of our town, cities and villages but, for many reasons – such as being apart from family and friends or facing language barriers - they might experience isolation.

Efforts to tackle loneliness and bring communities together must therefore think carefully about how to include new arrivals.

Building the foundations for social connections will take a joined-up effort – not least from mayors, councils, charities, community groups and businesses, but also from every one of us as residents of Yorkshire.

To overcome the barriers that people face to accessing events and activities in their local community small tweaks are needed, such as inclusive communications that actually reach people in hi-tech (eg social media) and low-tech ways (eg shop noticeboards).

But we also need the big stuff too. A transport infrastructure that allows people to get out of their homes and into their communities in an inexpensive, safe and reliable way and community hubs that can welcome people in for a meal, a conversation, a dance, a cup of tea, and – should it be needed – a bit of advice.

Communities themselves are the key to unlocking Yorkshire’s connection potential. For this reason it is vital that they are properly included in making decisions about what happens in their local area.

To build solid foundations for social connections, everyone in Yorkshire is needed to pick up a tool. From local housing officers, to volunteers at the local children’s centre, to librarians, to neighbours, to town planners, to mayors with transport budgets.

If we get this right, Yorkshire can be a hotspot for connection.

Lucy Mort is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).