By Steven Talbot, Training and Consultancy, Steven Talbot Consultancy   “A subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship. It happens when we have a mismatch between the quantity and quality of social relationships that we have, and those that we want.”  Perlman, D.   Hello all, I’ve recently been delivering my course, ‘Lost – recognising and responding to loneliness.’  The course was designed in collaboration with customers from across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. VOICES commissioned me to spread the word through their citywide learning programme1, especially regarding the amount of people across Stoke-on-Trent who are experiencing loneliness. The VOICES project is aimed at testing alternative approaches to tackling systemic barriers to effective support along with learning and evaluation to identify what works well.  The project has achieved numerous examples of coproduction and lived experience (Expert Citizens) is included in the design, development and delivery at all levels. I was asked to create the course to assist workers in recognising the signs of loneliness, tackle the issue, listen to customers and support people into embracing company and companionship. Learners are often shocked by the figures and statistics relating to loneliness, especially the amount of young people and young parents who are isolated and alone.  There’s a slight myth… Continue Reading

By Dean Spruce, Communication & Media Coordinator, VOICES   I recently had a conversation with an inspirational individual who is campaigning to raise awareness of the impact and prevalence of loneliness and isolation within our community, and as a result have been thinking about this within the context of the work we do here at VOICES ever since. When we think about loneliness what is the first thing that we picture? As we are all subject to the human condition, I think it’s fair to say a lot of us will be thinking of the stereotype, an elderly lady or gentleman, sitting in a chair alone. We imagine a solitary existence where days and weeks pass by without any contact with the outside world, except perhaps through a television sitting in the corner of a barely furnished room. The tragedy of this is that the stereotype is perfectly valid, for some people the images we just conjured up are very real, and in 2018 the thought that some of our elderly are faced with this kind of existence is very upsetting. However, this is a stereotype, ‘a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or… Continue Reading