Almost half of the people in Britain believe that they are getting lonelier, according to a new report from the Mental Health Foundation. On the positive side, ‘social network interventions’, of which the Good Gym is one,  are cited as one of the most important ways of combating loneliness.

The report describes how loneliness is still a taboo – which makes it particularly hard to tackle because suffers are unlikely to self-refer to a organisations that might be able to help.  The slow demise of the organisations that have supported community integration, such as Post Offices and social clubs must be combatted by a larger range of organisations that allow people to causally meet and integrate without the feeling that they are there to be helped.  Though the Good Gym aims to tackle loneliness amongst the elderly, we position older people as ‘coaches’ who pass on their wisdom, rather than as passive recipients of a service.

The report can be found here.

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