CONNECT FOR A KINDER TOMORROW - NEW APPROACHES TO LONELINESS

“I will not live in a country where thousands of people are living lonely lives, forgotten by the rest of us.”

– Jo Cox MP Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 1 Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 2

LONELINESS IS UK do feel lonely and invisible, with the Sinéad O’Connor’s lyric, dementia and neurodegenerative TV and four walls for company and a disease. Lonely people tend to visit GPs EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS phone that seldom rings. Jo said, ‘young ‘like a bird without a song’. more often, stay longer when in hospital or old, loneliness doesn’t discriminate’. and find it harder to cope and heal. The Loneliness can, and probably will, affect Instead, it surrounds us, from the quiet As Mother Teresa put it, evidence is clear: loneliness is toxic. each and every one of us. Jo Cox, our child in class to the high-powered colleague and friend, spoke out about executive, from the new mum to ‘the most terrible poverty is loneliness MEANINGFUL her own experience of being lonely. the family carer, hiding in plain sight. and the feeling of being unloved’. She came into Parliament wanting to It was when Jo, as a schoolgirl, CONNECTIONS ARE ‘turbo-charge the public’s awareness accompanied her postman granddad In Islam, for the same reason, smiling THE SAFEGUARD of loneliness’. In Jo’s memory we on his delivery round is charity. If someone does feel lonely, AND RELATIONSHIPS have co-chaired the Commission that she realised, for many, he was let us be patient and not rush to judge. on Loneliness that she set up and it is the only person with whom they would THE ANTIDOTE in her memory that we make this call interact that day. As families, loneliness can rob us of to connect. perspective and cause our closest Hunger is a warning sign – nature’s way Loneliness is not then just someone bonds – and so our safety nets – to fray, of telling us that we need food. Loneliness is not the same as being else’s problem. For a long time, we saw leaving us cut out and cut off. In our Thirst warns us to find water and drink. alone. The long-distance runner, permanently positive mental health communities, it can undermine integration Loneliness is a warning signal that we by herself for miles on end, may well as the norm and mental illness as an as people disengage. Forgetting that need human contact. Our bulwark not be lonely. One of the loneliest places aberration. It turned out that wasn’t true. we have more in common than that against loneliness then is meaningful can be in a crowd, or even within a The same applies to loneliness. It may which divides us, we recede into our connection. Aristotle was right when relationship. As the Oscar-winning actor, come and go, and most of us may not respective corners in a downwards he wrote 2,300 years ago that Tom Hanks, himself lonely as a child, be lonely most of the time, but it can spiral of withdrawal. Eating away human beings are social animals. has said, come to us all, even Paddington Bears at empathy, loneliness can erode The connections between us nourish and Big Friendly Giants. Everyone is solidarity in our society, supplanting it our bodies, hearts and minds. ‘Loneliness is to be avoided. likely to feel disconnected sometimes, with a creeping sense of dislocation. Solitude is to be sought’. at different stages of our lives. To answer And it can damage our economy, to the A requited relationship characterised The Beatles’ twin questions in Eleanor tune of £32 billion per annum, costing by kindness and reciprocity confers a Loneliness is a subjective experience Rigby’s baroque pop: all the lonely employers alone £2.5 billion a year. sense of value, visibility and worth. To do of perceived social isolation. For some people come from right here among us, that, it cannot be one-way traffic: both of us, its phases are acute but fleeting. and it’s here that they all belong. The harm loneliness does to our nation’s parties must each put in and get out. For others, chronic and debilitating, they health is both physical and mental. Those are the egalitarian, mutually can last for years. Loneliness’s triggers affirming relationships that prove LONELINESS HURTS Research suggests that loneliness is are often moments of transition: the worse for us in terms of morbidity and fulfilling. That is why it is so important birth of a child, retirement, redundancy, mortality than obesity and as bad for to focus on people’s assets and bereavement, a new foster placement The statistics betray an unseen resources – the time, energy, insight, epidemic, afflicting us at every level. As us as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. or leaving care, a return from armed Physically, it can lead to cardiovascular experience and expertise they can offer service, seeking asylum, coming out, individuals, loneliness can be emotionally – and not just what they lack. It is in the draining. There is a reason why nurseries disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood starting a new job or going to univer- pressure. Mentally, loneliness can giving, not the receiving, that people sity, changing schools, moving home, send misbehaving toddlers alone to find purpose beyond working and the ‘naughty corner’ and why solitary lead to anxiety and stress. It creates a becoming homeless, becoming a carer, heightened sense of threat, which can paying tax. More than the quantity of relationship breakdown, divorce. Which confinement is used on prisoners as acquaintances, it is primarily the quality a punishment and torture technique. cause insomnia. We end up sleeping of us will never experience any of these? with one eye hypervigilantly open, as of those connections and a sense of Moreover, loneliness can stifle our contribution that matter. This cannot be creativity and productivity, holding our if endangered at the edge of the herd. Nor is loneliness an older person’s issue, Loneliness can lead to depression, just about befriending then, so much as although too many older people in the potential back and leaving us, as in being friends. Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 3 Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 4

TECHNOLOGY IS A for those looking after housebound sometimes feel, particularly in our big to do. Starting a conversation each day relatives. Skype and WhatsApp enable cities, like a ‘Me, Now’ culture which in your neighbourhood can be a radical DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD grandparents to speak freely to their prizes instant gratification over anything act of community service. Arguably, grandchildren on the other side of the more profound, we need to sensitise we need to put down such roots in Such relationships are not to be found world. people to loneliness. If we do that order to grow wings. We can change via idealised versions of ourselves with a genuine sense of agency, the world around us, one conversation posted on troll-ridden antisocial media, Screen-free time though will always we can choose to make a change at a time. Whether it be in the doctor’s in Facebook status envy, nor in Twitter matter, as there is no substitute for for generations to come. waiting room or the supermarket queue, follows and likes. And yet British teens human contact, face to face. Modern it really is good to talk. We walk the today have never known a world neuroscience shows that we experience A sense of urgency is also needed, as same streets, so let’s not live in different before Instagram and Snapchat. unparalleled brain activity in response loneliness besets us in modern Britain worlds. Permanently hooked up to the to a person’s touch. It makes sense then as never before. We are living alone internet, some become hooked on it. that in nursing homes, residents often more, moving away from friends and National Rail, on whose tracks hundreds We abandon a conversation in person ask quietly just to hold visitors’ hands. family, and working alone more, from of people commit suicide every year, at the buzz of a notification arriving on the freelancer at home to the delivery are clear that a fellow commuter saying our phone. Caught in the world-wide NORMALISING EVERYDAY driver in their van. We spend a greater hello or commenting on the weather web, real-life relationships grow stilted proportion of our day by ourselves than can make a difference: small talk saves and stunted. CONNECTIONS we did 10 years ago. Many of the lives. So, those of us for whom the institutions that once brought us journey to work means headphones-in, Beyond distractions like Tamagotchi We need to recreate for the everyday together are fading, as each week scrolling down a screen, without a word and Pokémon Go, some technology what has been called ‘the permission another church or pub is converted into from origin to destination, let’s try a does though have the power to help, of snow’. It ought not to take an unusual flats. And yet, a recent survey of over break from our routine next time and not hinder, by connecting us across real event, such as snowfall, or an a thousand English vicars showed that have a word with a fellow passenger. divides. There are avatar-like robots, extraordinary misfortune, like a road loneliness is the problem they most Research suggests we might enjoy it, for example, which enable chronically traffic accident, before we feel we have frequently hear about and act upon despite anticipating the worst. But if that ill children to be telepresent alongside permission to speak to one another in in their parish. Globalisation has seems a bridge too far, at the very least, their classmates at school from the our daily lives. We must normalise such dispersed communities, markets when we get home, let’s phone our safety of their hospital bed. Such solidarity, not confine it to moments reduce relationships to transactions grandma or a friend we haven’t heard automata do not replace human of meteorological curiosity or times and technologies can end up replacing from for a while. They may be too proud interaction, but instead facilitate or of tragedy. Culturally, this may feel people with machines. Meanwhile, or embarrassed to admit it, but perhaps mediate it. This computer-aided contact disruptive and contraflow. But once inequality divides us by status and they’re feeling lonely right now. – ‘comptact’, to coin a phrase – does people do start talking and remember wealth. When society exhibits all these have potential. It can play a valuable how good it feels, it is contagious. isolating dynamics, it is time for us to In fact, we could all check the balance in role, provided we remember that actual So, let’s reset our default to being change the way we live. our figurative bank of friends and family relationships are too complicated for ‘happy to chat’. every once in a while. As we meander even the most sophisticated chatbot or through life, we all need a convoy android. For all the advances in machine A ‘five a day’ approach to portions CITIZENS AND INDIVIDUALS or caravan of companions – fellow learning and artificial intelligence, of fruit and veg, even if somewhat travellers who help to sustain us, on the magic behind the gizmos is arbitrary, does seem to stand us in good whom we can depend. But how many? always human. nutritional stead. Maybe we ought to aim We urge our fellow citizens – as neighbours, commuters and Decades of research by Oxford University for ‘five a day’ in terms of conversations Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, Virtual reality therapy can help people to keep loneliness at bay. colleagues – to make tackling loneliness their business, day to day. Robin Dunbar, may help us hazard an overcome isolating agoraphobia. Smart answer. Prof Dunbar’s work, honed over speakers can help people with learning We all need to make fostering everyday We could recognise being positively social as a sign of good character and time, demonstrates robustly that most difficulties become more independent. connections between people central of us have about four people in our Online carers’ fora can be a lifeline to what we do. In the teeth of what can talking to people as an aspirational thing Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 5 Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 6 innermost layer of family and friends – Charities can help older people to Employers can reflect on the way they home care workers – it could mean four close confidants in whom we harness nostalgia and put reminiscence organise and support their ever more bosses allowing itinerant staff to spend can trust. to positive ends. They can also enable remote and fragmented workforce. a little time with each client, just talking. older people to volunteer, rather than Home-working can be an isolating Dunbar and an international team of feeling like they no longer have a place modus operandi, as can being an By thinking and acting in more relational scientists analysed six billion mobile in society, unable to keep up with the engineer or delivery driver, alone in a ways, businesses can augment phone calls made by 35 million pace of change. Many who volunteer van with a stylus and tablet. Companies connectedness in the communities people in an unnamed European say it benefits them every bit as much can provide space for staff to socialise in which they operate. At the same country throughout 2007, before the as the people they set out to help. and encourage them to phone each time, they can enhance their enterprise, pervasive proliferation of social media Community groups can foster resilience, other rather than just using email. They because engaged colleagues and and smart phones. They screened out not reliance, particularly among the can take steps to encourage workers to connected communities make for more business and casual calls. Mining their most elderly who survive their friends leave the factory, office or shop on time and happier customers. To cite a simple massive dataset for patterns, what they and spouse. It can be hard at 80 to and to use their annual leave entitlement example, many of us would walk a bit found was that individuals on average make new friends – we need to make for the sake of work-life balance. They further to reach a shop or café where had four people whom they called them while we can – so a helping hand can enable peer-to-peer employee we are welcomed and friendly staff frequently and who called them back. can make all the difference. support, such as that provided by are happy to chat. A corporate drive for Four people, that is, in their intimate, Transport for London’s carers staff connection then has the potential to inner circle. Four people on whom they There are many examples of excellent network. Directors can show leadership deliver a transformative win-win. could count. practice in this field. The Love Your when it comes to creating an environment Neighbour scheme, coming soon to conducive to kindness, where displaying LOCAL AND REGIONAL We say now then that everyone could Manchester Cares, pairs over-65s and vulnerability is not seen as tantamount ‘Connect 4’. That is, we could all try their younger neighbours for a one-to- to weakness, and cultivating a culture AUTHORITIES to nurture a meaningful connection one session each week. The Co-op of compassion where admissions of with four other people in our life, and British Red Cross are recruiting loneliness are not stigmatised. The most Local authorities, alongside others, and recognise that we can, in turn, Community Connectors to help successful companies take a leaf from could use their planning powers play such a role for others. In striving socially isolated people reconnect with cooperatives’ book by recognising the and associated levers to improve the for four positive, stable relationships, their community. London Independent rich and unique life experience of each architecture of public and private space. we can connect for health and connect Visitors provides children in care of their employees. From the cleaner We can foster community spirit, not by for happiness. We can even connect for with volunteer mentors. FOCUS in to the chief executive, they encourage accident but by design. The measure Jo. She would be humbled and thrilled Leicester brings disabled adults and staff, as people, to open windows into of a successful development would in equal measure by such a legacy. disadvantaged teenagers together, each other’s lives. be one that makes it easy for people shows them some trust, and watches to meet and chat. This could mean widening hallways in apartment blocks, VOLUNTARY AND them flourish in each others’ hands. Some businesses rarely see their customers in the flesh. Perhaps the providing areas for children to play, COMMUNITY GROUPS or creating street corners where BUSINESSES AND downsides of this too can be mitigated. Businesses can consider offsetting residents bump into one another. We encourage organisations throughout EMPLOYERS the antisocial effects of automation. Our physical surroundings influence the voluntary sector to build trust and Supermarkets with their self-service our ability to connect and help make confidence between people in our As with environmental sustainability checkouts could consider introducing our houses homes. society. That way they can be part of 20 years ago, forward-thinking a slow lane or a café in store. Banks, both prevention and cure. They can organisations are no longer framing alongside their automated telling Planners could ensure there are act as the ‘brokers’ and ‘instigators’ loneliness as a charitable cause, but as machines and apps, could put on extra adequate benches and toilets to who bring people together and the a social issue they can influence directly staff in branch to preserve a personal enable older and disabled people to ‘welcomers’ who help to crack cliques. by the way that they do business. touch. When it comes to more make better use of the public realm. peripatetic work – say, gas fitters or And before we worry too much about the latest gadgets, let’s get the basics Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 7 Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 8 of Smart Cities right. Parks and pavements should they wish. That way, affording with ourselves and with others, after all, centralisation, in the public as well as must be well maintained, streets well independence won’t inadvertently is as important as our mastery of phonics the private sector, can leave people lit to deter antisocial behaviour and run the risk of abetting atomisation. or maths. Plus, further investment is stranded. Sometimes we need to spend traffic must not be allowed to sever Communal eating, for instance, has a needed in English language courses time, not just save it. Indeed, where our communities. Crime ought to be proven, positive bonding effect. When for immigrants, especially refugees. we have structured disconnection into designed out, because fear of it keeps push comes to shove though, the key society, mainstreaming loneliness, we people indoors. point is that loneliness poses a major In housing, policy could proactively may have to design connection back in. public health concern and yet half of all support the development of lifelong Beyond the built environment, councils in spend nothing on neighbourhoods. A good example THE WAY FORWARD simple measures like waiving fees and dedicated services to combat it. That is New Earswick for All Ages, minimising the bureaucracy required needs to change. a generationally integrated Joseph The UK is one of the places in Europe to close roads for street parties and Rowntree Housing Trust project where where people are most likely to say they play streets can help people meet CENTRAL GOVERNMENT accessible and attractive homes are feel they have nobody to turn to when their neighbours. Perhaps we could offered alongside care services fit for they need some help. It doesn’t need to encourage landlords to be more relaxed We exhort central government to make an ageing society. The idea is to enable be this way. The problem of loneliness is about permitting pets, if animals can addressing loneliness a priority at the residents to ‘age in place’. Separately, solvable, and we can each play a part. If act as life-enhancing stress-busters highest levels of the state. That will with more and more families now living we all adopt a ‘five a day’ rule of thumb and if walking a dog gets its owner certainly mean offering strategic with the relative transience and limited for conversations, to bolster the thin ties out and about? leadership and coordination. The United security of renting privately, policy may between us, and a ‘Connect 4’ approach Arab Emirates, for example, has a Cabinet need to play a role in supporting them to meaningful relationships, to fasten the Councillors having to balance ever more Minister for Happiness. The United to get involved in their neighbourhoods. thick ties that bind, then we can build precarious budgets should remember Kingdom could designate a minister As for social housing, it can be just that a less lonely nation, through thick and the importance of inclusive institutions responsible and accountable for – profoundly social – if designed with thin, ourselves. As a country, we can rise which command public love and corralling the government’s efforts neighbourly connections in mind. to the challenge of loneliness. Through support. Libraries where people come to tackle loneliness. It will mean a lasting nationwide effort, from coast to together and lollipop men and women measuring loneliness nationally in a way Cohesion policy ought to recognise coast, isle to valley, village to town, we greeting schoolchildren as they cross that counts what counts, is actionable what research by the Great Get can help everyone to belong and leave the road should be appreciated for their and doesn’t denude the accompanying Together team at The Jo Cox Foundation no-one behind. Together, we can kindle social value, which may far outweigh politics of passion. And it will mean has confirmed, namely that people are a kinder tomorrow and craft a future that their monetary cost. Councils could also making available much-needed streams more likely to get involved in communal is better, connected. support the development of shared of funding to finance the effort where initiatives in the first two years after they living arrangements, such as the it matters most, on the ground. arrive in a new place. In health, there is ‘small household’ model piloted by a strong case for more by way of social MP Evermore in Manchester and various prescribing, as pioneered in Rotherham. It will also mean recognising that Rachel Reeves MP intergenerational homeshare schemes. Emphasis could also be put not just on loneliness in many ways is amenable Co-chairs of the Jo Cox Commission The likes of Fair House Care and Fair financial planning for retirement, as is to public policy. on Loneliness BnB give young people a place to already the case, but on social planning stay whilst addressing older people’s for it too. Transport policy could do In education, there is scope for greater December 2017 isolation. Such set-ups can help the focus on attachment in early years, more to connect rural and seaside hosts avoid skipping meals due to lack when children’s brains are being communities, as could better of company or falling whilst changing hardwired. More emphasis on positive broadband, wifi and cellular networks. lightbulbs alone. We also encourage relationships in the primary and local authorities to assist those adults secondary curricula could help. No doubt in some cases at a national in receipt of direct payments for social Wellbeing and mindfulness also merit level too we need the state to do less. care to spend them collectively, class-time. Our ability to connect Endless efficiency drives through Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 9 Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 10

BIBLIOGRAPHY about loneliness, Evening Standard – combating loneliness and building and Co-op stronger communities, Carnegie UK Adams T (2016) John Cacioppo: Brown H et al (2017) Understanding local Kemp R (2017) The role of local govern- ‘Loneliness is like an iceberg it goes needs for wellbeing data, What Works Good Morning Britain (2016) 1 Million ment in combating loneliness, LGA deeper than we can see’, Centre for Wellbeing Minutes, ITV Knapton S (2017) Loneliness is deadli- Agarwal P (2017) If Britain does build a Buchan L (2017) Vulnerable people left Griffin A (2016) Facebook friends are er than obesity, study suggests, Daily million homes, let’s not make a million to suffer chronic loneliness as services almost entirely fake, Telegraph more people lonely, The Guardian ‘underfunded and overwhelmed’, La- bour warns, The Independent Harasemiw O et al (2017) From Social Konnikova M (2014) The limits of friend- Age UK Oxfordshire (2012) Loneliness – Integration to Social Isolation: The Rela- ship, The New Yorker the state we’re in, Age UK Burkeman O (2017) Lonely? Short of tionship Between Social Network Types friends? Try looking at it differently, The and Perceived Availability of Social Lebowitz S (2016) After seeing the re- Ali N (2017) Recognising the impact of Guardian Support in a National Sample of Older sults of a clever psychological study, I’m loneliness: a public health issue, Public Canadians, Research on Ageing considering making a major change to Health England Cacioppo J and Cacioppo S (2017) The my daily commute, Business Insider UK social muscle, Harvard Business Review Helliwell J and Putnam R (2004) The Amos J (2010) Falling in love costs you social context of well-being, The Royal Leyden Academy (2015) Professor Jenny friends, BBC Campaign Against Living Miserably Society Gierveld: “Keep your social convoy in (2017) Take action, CALM shape”, Leyden Academy Anthony A (2017) The robot that staves Holland E (2017) The government’s role off loneliness for chronically ill children, Chambers M (2017) In a world where we in combating loneliness, Wall Street Lutkin A (2017) Loneliness is almost as The Guardian can connect instantly around the globe, Journal bad for your health as smoking, Jezebel we’re losing touch of those immediately Bates D (2016) Forget having hundreds around us, Huffington Post Holt-Lunstad J (2017) So lonely I could MacCarron P, Kaski K and Dunbar R of Facebook contacts, our brains can die, American Psychological Association (2016) Calling Dunbar’s numbers, Social only cope with four true friends, Daily Clements D (2017) The lonely state, Networks Mail Huffington Post Holt-Lunstad J et al (2015) Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for Marzano M et al (2016) Why do people BBC (2017) Commuters urged to help Coughlan S (2017) Automated checkouts mortality: a meta-analytic review, Asso- take their lives on the Railways in Great stop suicides through small talk, BBC ‘miserable’ for elderly shoppers, BBC ciation for Psychological Science Britain? A research study, Middlesex University London and University of BBC (2017) Creating a robot to combat Dunbar R (1993) Coevolution of neocor- Holmes L (2016) Science says you can Westminster loneliness, BBC tical size, group size and language in really only have five close friends at a humans, Behavioural and Brain Sciences time, Huffington Post Massachusetts Institute of Technology BBC (2017) Smart speakers ‘give more (2016) Your brain limits you to just five independence’ to disabled people, BBC Dunbar R (2017) Breaking bread: the Hull A and Cooke G (2012) Together at BFFs, MIT Technology Review functions of social eating, Adaptive Hu- home: a new strategy for housing, IPPR Bloomberg News (2017) Robots are man Behaviour and Physiology McKee S (2017) Evermore: bringing invading your kid’s classroom, Bloomb- ITV (2017) QUB study suggests loneli- pockets of brilliance to scale, Evermore erg News Epley N and Schroeder J (2014) Mistak- ness a major health concern, ITV enly seeking solitude, Journal of Experi- McMahon J (2017) Local economies Bremner M (2015) The lonely end, Slate mental Psychology Kantar Public (2016) Trapped in a bub- need local banks, Public Finance ble – an investigation into triggers for Brouwer L (2017) Why we need to talk Ferguson Z (2017) The place of kindness loneliness in the UK, British Red Cross Mesmer M (2014), Rent-a-friend: a solu- Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 11 Connect for a kinder tomorrow - new approaches to loneliness 12

tion for the lonely people of Japan, Le Ries N and Sugihara T (2017) Robot Thirteen steps to tackle social segrega- Monde revolution: why technology for older tion, Social Integration Commission people must be designed with care and National Assembly for Wales (2017) respect, The Conversation Tett G (2014) Only connect, but do it in Inquiry into loneliness and isolation, person, Financial Times National Assembly for Wales Sainsbury’s (2017) Living well index, Sainsbury’s The Challenge (2017) Rebuilding our Network Rail (2017) How our world-lead- common life, The Challenge ing, cross-industry suicide prevention Samaritans (2017) Saving lives on the programme with Samaritans is helping railways, Samaritans and Network Rail Tinkler L and Hicks S (2011) Measuring to save lives, Network Rail subjective wellbeing, Office for National Sarner M (2017) Feeling lonely? You’re Statistics NSPCC (2017) 15% rise in Childline coun- not on your own, New Scientist selling sessions about suicide, NSPCC Underwood C, Gillr and Holmes J (2016) Smith A (2014) A sense of belonging: a Coordinating isolated support services, Pan J (2017) ‘Who is the queen?’ And shared future, Fabian Society and Bright Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Part- other ways to get talking to strangers, Blue nership The Guardian Smith A (2015) Let’s end loneliness – for Weller C (2017) Why loneliness may be a Payne K (2016) Our third age can be our young and old, North London Cares greater public health hazard than obesi- best age, Campaign to End Loneliness ty, World Economic Forum Smith A (2015) The connecting state, Public Health England (2017) PHE high- Demos lights 8 ways for local areas to prevent mental ill health, HMG Smith A (2015) When was the last time you had a moment’s pause?, North Purdam K (2017) Bare cupboards and London Cares nobody to help buy food – the forgotten welfare gap in older age, The Independ- Smith A (2016) Community voices: why ent do we choose the words we use?, South London Cares Purdam K, Garratt E and Esmail A (2017) The forgotten welfare gap in older age Smith A (2017) Disconnection in the “con- – food insecurity and living alone in the nected age”, Reaction UK (draft), University of Manchester Stykuc-Dean O and Judson N (2017) Col- Quinn M (2017) Elderly shoppers alienat- laborative working to reduce loneliness ed by automated tills, Money Expert and social isolation, Buckinghamshire County Council Reeves R (2017) Throwing a new light on loneliness, Tadayoshi N (2015), How the Japanese robot avatar OriHime fights loneliness, Reeves R et al (2017) Loneliness and Tech in Asia local communities, UK Parliament Taylor M et al (2015) Kingdom United?