Co-op partnership

From 2015 to 2019, the Co-op and the British Red Cross worked in partnership to raise awareness and launch services to tackle loneliness and social isolation in communities across the UK.

This innovative partnership:

• raised £6.7 million through a wide range of fundraising activities
• worked with nearly 12,000 people experiencing loneliness and social isolation, supporting them to reconnect with their communities
• ran social prescribing-style connecting communities services in nearly 40 locations across all four nations of the UK
• produced a number of ground-breaking research reports on loneliness.

Read our end of partnership report.

Connecting communities

Together British Red Cross and Co-op created and delivered bespoke connecting communities services, developed from our ground-breaking research, to offer support for up to 12 weeks to individuals who were experiencing or at risk of loneliness.

Through tailored support, our staff and volunteers supported vulnerable people to rediscover their interests, build self-confidence and make new social connections.

An evaluation of our service found 71 per cent of people who used connecting communities felt less lonely following our support, with 76 per cent having improved wellbeing.

Find out more about our work on loneliness.

Raising awareness

Together British Red Cross and Co-op campaigned to raise awareness and tackle loneliness and for the issue to remain on the political agenda.

British Red Cross and Co-op co-chaired the Loneliness Action Group, bringing together 60 organisations from the public, private and charitable sector to share learning on loneliness and ensure the issue remains on the public agenda.

The British Red Cross and Co-op partnership also supported the Loneliness All Party Parliamentary Group, a cross-party working group looking at developing policy on the issue.

To date, major progress has been made in campaigning for political commitment to tackle loneliness through the appointment of a Loneliness Minister and the launch of the Loneliness Strategy for England with similar work in the devolved nations.

British Red Cross and Co-op will continue to campaign for greater political commitment to tackling loneliness during 2020.

Research

The British Red Cross and Co-op partnership produced a number of ground-breaking and innovative research reports into the causes of loneliness and best-practice methods to tackle it. They include:

• Trapped in a bubble: an investigation into triggers for loneliness in the UK
• Fulfilling the promise: how social prescribing can most effectively tackle loneliness
• Barriers to belonging: an exploration of loneliness among people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds

See more of our research on loneliness in partnership with Co-op.