Agenda item

Report ACH23-008

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the delivery of the Tackling Loneliness Strategy Action Plan. The Tackling Loneliness Strategy was approved by the Adult Care and Health Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee in November 2021 and was launched later that year. At the time, Members were advised that an updated action plan would be brought to the Committee with evidence of progress throughout the lifetime of the strategy.

Councillor Mike Botting, Executive Assistant for Adult Care and Health and Loneliness Champion, informed Members that the strategy was moving in the right direction, and he was pleased with the progress being made against the action plan.

The Principal Loneliness Champion informed Members that key successes in recent months had included:

-  An intergenerational project with schools, Children and Family centres and Mytime Active afterschool clubs to create Christmas cards for people experiencing loneliness within various care settings. 900 cards were created and delivered to 6 care homes, 6 Extra Care Home settings and 4 domiciliary care agencies across Bromley. The remaining cards were donated to care leavers, St Christopher’s Hospice patients in Sydenham and the PRUH/Orpington Hospital.

-  A borough partnership had been formed with London South East Colleges (LSEC). From 1^st February 2023 they would be piloting ‘Warm Wednesday’, where individuals could come for a meal prepared by students and talk to others. It was hoped that this could be made a more regular occurrence.

-  A poster had been submitted to the Campaign to End Loneliness’s poster competition, to highlight the work which the Council and statutory, private and voluntary partners were undertaking throughout Bromley. This was part of their international conference, which was taking place on 2^nd February 2023. The Principal Loneliness Champion was pleased to announce that the poster submission had been placed as runner up.

-  Work had been undertaken to look at how they communicated loneliness – they had spoken with the voluntary sector and organisations across the borough about this topic. This aimed to connect people and signpost individuals, residents and organisations to the help and assistance that they may need to tackle loneliness.

Members thanked the Principal Loneliness Champion for providing an excellent report and enquired if more could be done to publicise the work undertaken. The Executive Assistant for Adult Care and Health and Loneliness Champion agreed that people needed to be aware of this work and further communication would be beneficial. It was emphasised that they wanted this to be part of “business as normal” and the Principal Loneliness Champion was looking to develop ‘Loneliness Champions’ roles in all departments across the Council. The Principal Loneliness Champion advised that work was taking place across the borough partnership and a training course would be delivered to local residents. This would provide an opportunity to learn what loneliness is, how to start a conversation and the resources available. There was a Tackling Loneliness Action Group, working across the borough to get the messages out, and they had good relationships with faith groups in the community. The Executive Assistant for Adult Care and Health and Loneliness Champion advised that, in addition to social media platforms, they were looking to use YouTube to spread the message about tackling loneliness even further. The Chairman suggested that the Executive Assistant for Adult Care and Health and Loneliness Champion may wish to share communications via the Councillor groups.

A Co-opted Member noted that there were a number of community Facebook groups, which could help to promote information within a specific area – if the Principal Loneliness Champion could provide information, he would be happy to share it. The Principal Loneliness Champion advised that they had been using a social media page on Facebook to promote events and upload flyers. They had also been utilising partner agencies, such as the libraries and Mytime Active, to further promote via their social media platforms.

A Member advised that a national day of volunteering had been announced as part of the Coronation celebrations and enquired if this was something that could be highlighted. The Principal Loneliness Champion said that this could be added to the calendar, and they could look at promoting volunteering internally and across the sectors. It was noted that Loneliness Awareness Week would take place in June.

In response to questions, the Principal Loneliness Champion advised that Bromley Libraries were offering free tea and coffee at activities through the ‘Warm Space’s initiative’ which was part of the Tackling Loneliness Fund. The Director of Adult Social Care highlighted that this was a good example of prevention in action. With regards to the outcome of the Platinum Jubilee Parks Fund applications, the Principal Loneliness Champion said she was awaiting a list of different places that had been approved to help tackle loneliness and social isolation across the borough. The Chairman advised that a report regarding this was to be presented to the meeting of the Environment and Community Services Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee the following evening.

A Member said that there were some concerns around utilising community spaces, due to the cost of living and price of utilities, and enquired if any financial support was being provided to help these organisations run things such as warm hub and activities. The Principal Loneliness Champion advised that the report contained a link to the Simply Connect Bromley database which was a resource listing more than 90 venues in the borough that were available at low cost. The Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Health said it was clear that the government had stepped in to provide support to organisations and were looking at energy costs. The Government UK website provided information on how businesses could apply for support with energy costs.

A Co-opted Member noted the high temperatures that had been experienced during the summer, and enquired if the ‘Warm Hubs’ could be turned into ‘Cool Hubs’ over the summer period. The Principal Loneliness Champion said that this was something that she could discuss with the libraries.

The Vice-Chairman enquired if it was mandatory for individuals, or small organisations, who were trying to tackle loneliness to complete a DBS check. The Principal Loneliness Champion advised that this had been discussed with Community Links Bromley, who managed Simply Connect Bromley, and this requirement was stated in their contract with the NHS. These were the stipulations for organisations to be registered on the Simply Connect Bromley database and they had no leeway to change this.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman congratulated the Principal Loneliness Champion on placing runner up in the Campaign to End Loneliness’s poster competition, and thanked her for the update provided.

RESOLVED that the progress made in delivering the Tackling Loneliness Strategy Action Plan 2022–2026 be noted.