Action on loneliness

All Party Parliamentary Group on Loneliness

The British Red Cross and Co-op provide the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Loneliness

Building on the work of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness, the group aims to continue to influence legislation and policy-making to reduce loneliness across the UK. It is chaired by Rachel Reeves MP and made up of cross-party MPs and peers.

Loneliness can affect any of us: MPs take action

Rachel Reeves said: “Loneliness can affect any of us at different points in our lives. It can affect the refugee who has lost everything, their friends, their family and their home and has ended up in a country that is foreign to them. You can experience loneliness if you lose your job and your purpose in life.

You can experience loneliness when you go away to college and university and you’re away from the friends and the family who you know and love. You can experience loneliness when someone close to you dies, perhaps particularly in retirement and older age. My friend Jo Cox was right when she said 'loneliness doesn’t discriminate.' 

We all have a responsibility in our neighbourhoods, in our communities, in our friendship groups and in our families to look out for others. I hope that I am continuing to take forward Jo’s work and to recognise the importance of loneliness that I see in my constituency of Leeds West, that Jo saw in Batley and Spen, and that all of us see in our communities, families and friendship groups."

"Working together I honestly believe that we can combat chronic loneliness."

Rachel Reeves MP
Chair, APPG on Loneliness

In addition to its chair, Rachel Reeves MP, the group has vice chairs including Neil O’Brien MP, Alison Thewliss MP, and Dean Russell MP. Its officers are Ellie Reeves MP, Lord Barwell, Baroness Greengross, Alan Mak MP, Jerome Mayhew MP, Giles Watling MP, Karen Bradley MP, Jack Brereton MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Barry Sheerman MP and Kirsten Oswald MP.

Throughout 2020, the APPG will continue to ensure people are supported throughout their life to have the meaningful social connections of their choosing by influencing government policy and practice.

To do this, the APPG has launched an independent inquiry into loneliness. We invite everyone to take part, from government bodies to people who have experienced loneliness themselves or the local organisations that support them.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact LonelinessAction@redcross.org.uk

The Loneliness Action Group - what it is and who can join

The Loneliness Action Group, led by the British Red Cross and Co-op partnership, was tasked by the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness partners to secure a lasting legacy for the Commission’s work.

The group’s core members include our fellow partners from the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness and other leading expert organisations. It will be co-chaired by senior representatives from British Red Cross and Co-op.

The Loneliness Action Group has a particular focus on making sure the Commission’s call to action to tackle loneliness is heard.

To do this, it brings together government, charities, businesses and public sector leaders working nationally on loneliness. Together we develop solutions and secure meaningful commitments from decision makers across the UK.

How to join

To find out more and register your interest in getting involved, contact LonelinessAction@redcross.org.uk.

Epidemic levels of loneliness

Read our Trapped in a Bubble research (PDF), which revealed epidemic levels of loneliness and social isolation in the UK, with over 9 million people (almost one-fifth of the population) reporting they are always or often lonely.

Barriers to belonging

Our report, Barriers to Belonging (PDF), explores the causes of loneliness and obstacles to seeking help for people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

APPG on Loneliness Inquiry

Throughout 2020, the APPG on Loneliness is running a major independent inquiry into loneliness. The inquiry will seek to:

1. Hold government to account and secure a renewed cross-Government commitment to tackling loneliness and its underlying causes
2. Build on progress made to date, by recommending tangible and ambitious next steps for government, at the end of the inquiry in December 2020
3. Explore solutions to crucial but complex policy areas identified by the Loneliness Action Group as outlined within the Shadow report, A connected Society? Assessing progress in tackling loneliness

To form the basis of the inquiry, the APPG has launched a consultation to gather views and evidence on how to better tackle loneliness, and explore solutions to crucial but complex policy areas including:

a. Designing and implementing ways to test the implications of government policies on loneliness 
b. Translating national policy into local action through local authorities
c. Community infrastructure (including housing, transport and public spaces)
d. How to adequately fund the voluntary and community sector upon which social prescribing depends

We are interested in hearing from Government and arms-length bodies, MPs and peers, NHS stakeholders, businesses, councils, councillors, academics, voluntary and charity sector organisations and members of the public.

How to respond to the consultation

The consultation is currently open for submissions. 

There are a series of questions which you may respond to. We do not expect you to respond to all of them and advise that you only respond to the questions most relevant to you and/ or your organisation. 

Please respond through the online form below, or on a separate document if you are responding through the easy read version. 

Public Consultation
Accessible word version 
Easy Read Version

Please note that the consultation will close on Thursday 30 April at 11:59PM. Any forms submitted after this time will not be considered. 

Please contact RasteenBoni@BritishRedCross.org.uk to receive physical copies or print versions. 

If you are unable to submit your response electronically, please post it to: 
Ms Rasteen Riyahi-Boni
British Red Cross
44 Moorfields,
London
EC2Y 9AL
The APPG will be holding oral evidence sessions in the Houses of Parliament to deliver your evidence in person to a panel of APPG officers. 

Please indicate whether you wish to be considered for invitation to deliver your evidence in person to a panel of APPG officers at the end of the survey.