The ‘Connect’ booklet has been compiled as part of the Government’s aim to alleviate loneliness and “social isolation”, continuing the work of the M.P. Jo Cox, who set up the Commission on Loneliness, prior to her death in Summer 2016. The aim of the Commission was to “shine a powerful spotlight on the millions of people who are lonely, living in our communities”.

This furthers the campaign by providing the details of some of the hobbies, interest groups, classes and organisations, for adults of any age, in the Handforth and Wilmslow communities.

Loneliness doesn’t just affect older people. In fact, according to the Office for National Statistics, young adults are more likely to feel lonely than older age groups. The research found that almost 10% of people aged 16-24 were “always or often” lonely, the highest proportion of any age group.
If you know someone who may be lonely, isolated or new to the area, whatever their age and you think they would benefit from this booklet, then please show them a copy or direct them to the online version and encourage support them in finding something that would suit them.
 

Every group featured in this booklet has assured us that all newcomers will benefit from a warm welcome.
 

‘Connect’ has been produced by the Patient Participation Group (PPG) at Handforth Doctors Surgery. The leader of Britain’s G.P.s, Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, says ‘being lonely can be as bad for someone’s health as having a long term illness such as diabetes or high blood pressure’. 3 out of 4 G.P.s say that they see between 1 and 5 people a day who have come in mainly because they are lonely and 1 in 10 sees between 6 and 10 such patients daily.

 

Each Doctor’s Surgery in the area has their own PPG. This is a group of patients who have informal meetings with a G.P. and staff representatives, four or five times a year. Each meeting lasts approximately an hour and is an opportunity to be informed of and discuss changes likely to affect the services provided by the surgery. Meetings can look at feedback from patient surveys and help to share recommendations for improvement. If you are interested in joining your surgery’s PPG, then contact your Practice PPG Co-ordinator for more information.