The Let’s talk about Loneliness in the Community meeting, which is being organised by the Haringey Forum for Older People in conjunction with the council and Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), will encourage people to think about what steps can be taken to help people feel more connected to others in the local area and help to link vulnerable residents with sources of advice and support.
Research show that across the UK, more than half of all people aged 75 and over live alone and four in every 10 older people say the TV is their main company. As well as being emotionally challenging, loneliness and isolation can also damage health and affects people of all ages.
The council and the CCG have been working together closely to tackle social isolation in Haringey and are running a number of projects to use the resources in local communities to promote wellbeing and reduce loneliness.
Cllr Peter Morton, Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing said: “We know that loneliness and social isolation can be hugely damaging to people’s health and wellbeing but what events like this show is that there is a great deal of help and support out there to help Haringey residents feel more connected to people in their local area.”
The free to attend event will take place on Wednesday 16 September between 10.30 – 15.30 at Tottenham Green leisure Centre on Philip Lane.
Organisations such as The Silver Line, a 24 hour confidential helpline for older people and Haringey Neighbourhoods Connect, a programme that supports local people to play a more active role in their community, will be on hand at the event to talk about the support they provide to residents.
