Social wellbeing
Loneliness is a growing social issue which can have a significant impact on physical and mental health.
City Connections
City Connections is for all City of London residents and workers. They help you find and access the support and information you need. They also have a wide range of free activities for residents and workers to join, to help you combat loneliness and bring you together with other people.
City Connections is a free service for anyone working, living, studying or volunteering in the Square Mile. It is the first port of call to gain information about free services that would best suit your needs and how to access them.
Wellbeing Co-ordinator
Their Wellbeing Co-ordinator, can arrange a convenient time to meet with you and identify support services you need. Once you have a plan, they will continue to stay in touch and make sure you are fully supported to access services, either with a phone call, email, home visit or at one of our local wellbeing activities. To access support that is entirely tailored to your individual needs, contact the Wellbeing Co-ordinator directly on 07432 736495, or you can email the service for support.
City Connections activities
Check out the City Connections activities in their monthly newsletter, including poetry, exercise, crafts, walks and special trips! Everyone is welcome, provided you live or work in the Square Mile and are over 18. Their Community Engagement Officer, works hard to come up with an exciting schedule of activities which are free and accessible for all. You can get in touch with the Community Engagement Officer directly on 07514 670270, or email the service for support.
Carers Connections
City Connections also runs the Carers Connections Service, which is specifically for unpaid carers, who live or work in the City of London. If you’re a carer or think you might be a carer, get in touch to find out what support is available to you, be it applying for a Carers Assessment or joining a peer support group in the area.
Visit the City Connections website, call 020 3957 9844, or email the service for more information.
If you are a young carer, you can access support from the City Connections service by using the contact information above.
Tackling social isolation
The City of London Corporation has a strategy and associated action plan to reduce social isolation and loneliness.
This was developed in partnership with the Social Wellbeing Panel - a group of experts on social isolation that included new parents, Black and Minority Ethnic older people, dispersed communities and people with health issues. These groups were chosen after analysing feedback from a public consultation and carrying out research within our communities. They shared insights and ideas on how to reduce loneliness and examples of activity that has been successful elsewhere.
Despite these groups having different circumstances, shared themes emerged from each evidence session. These themes are the building blocks of our work to reduce loneliness.
Social Prescribing and Outreach Service
The Social Prescribing and Outreach Service provides personalised support to adults in City and Hackney, to help them to connect to services or community support by building trusting relationships.
The service aims to improve health and wellbeing by helping people to take action on what matters to them and provide support with non-medical issues such as employment, housing, debt, social isolation, physical inactivity and other ‘unhealthy’ behaviours.
This service is open to anyone registered with a GP in City and Hackney over the age of 18. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Family Action on 0203 846 6777 or email Family Action.