Loneliness strategy to improve access to community spaces for young people

Announcing the funding today, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it would enable the creation of more sustainable community spaces and hubs with a particular focus on improving access for young people.

The Loneliness Strategy also includes plans by the Department for Education to encourage schools to maximise the use of their premises to generate extra income and increase facilities for local communities.

The government, which first announced plans for the strategy in January to tackle concerns over rising numbers of people experiencing loneliness, said young people aged between 16 and 24 are "at particular risk of feeling lonely more often".  

It said possible factors included psychological development and "the many transitions in environment that young people experience".

"Government is keen to co-produce solutions to youth loneliness with young people," the strategy states.

Among the new initiatives, the DCMS is setting up a national Young Commissioners and Inspectors Group, outlined earlier this year in plans for the Civil Society Strategy, to involve young people directly in national services affecting them.  

Further measures planned include support for "grassroot opportunities" to strengthen local social relationships and community ties through funding for the sport and volunteering sectors.

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The strategy also highlights the need to raise awareness of social connections through existing programmes such as the work of uniformed youth groups and through partnership working with libraries, museums and the arts.

"This builds on the funding already announced in June 2018 through the Building Connections Fund," the strategy states.

The DCMS has already pledged its commitment to expanding uniformed youth programmes (such as the Scouts, Guides or Sea Cadets) to create more places for disadvantaged young people with a new £5m Uniformed Youth Fund.

Under the new strategy the government plans to invest £100,000 of this funding for research to improve understanding of how to address youth loneliness through uniformed youth work.

Youth minister Tracey Crouch, who is the ministerial lead for loneliness, said the strategy set out a "powerful vision" for addressing a challenge which affected people of all ages and backgrounds.

"By bringing together health services, businesses, local authorities, charities and community groups we will raise awareness of loneliness and help people build connections to lead happier and healthier lives," she said.

High-profile businesses, including Sainsbury's, Transport for London, and the Co-op, have pledged to take further action to support their employees' health and social wellbeing.

Jim Cooke, head of the Co-op Foundation, said it welcomed the government's commitment to tackling loneliness across all age groups, including among young people.

Cooke said work carried out by the company with the UK-wide Belong network showed that youth loneliness was "widespread but still not widely understood".

"We look forward to working with the government to better support the youth sector so that more young people can find a place to belong and contribute positively to their community," he added.