studies For ms of loneliness and social isolation Recommend ations for local councils
Throughout and after the Covid-19 lockdowns, many of Camden’s residents struggled with isolation and loneliness, and more than a third of adults feel lonelier now than they did during the pandemic.
I am very passionate about researching this issue as I was a victim myself of this in the past.
Completing research around central and southern Camden, I have gathered some insightful information that even I wasn’t aware of previously. I am hoping this knowledge from locals will contribute to helping those who are isolated.
My method of research was mainly face-to-face through interviews, but some preferred to engage over the phone or via emails or messaging.
The most enjoyable part of the discussions I’ve had has been finding solutions, and engaging with residents about what the council can offer.
Even the simplest gathering can be the ice breaker that brings neighbours together to embrace one another as a community.
The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
In Ethiopia, where I’m from, isolation is not something we really worry about.
I think the key to preventing isolation is having a supportive neighbourhood.
We have an old saying that “if something happens to you at home it is your neighbour who will reach you first” so we need to make sure we are surrounded by good people.
From my research across Camden I can confirm it is true - as a lot of residents stated that it is at home where they feel the most isolated and they would love to have a better relationship with those living around them. If we can bring people together into good neighbourhoods, they will be less likely to feel isolated.
Back home in East Africa we never close a door, everyone is welcome without arrangement.
One element of our culture that helps bring the community together is the traditional coffee ceremony. This is a social occasion that takes around two hours,where the neighbourhood gathers to converse and bond over coffee.
The ceremony, always held in traditional settings, either in a neighbour’s home or a communal coffee spot, is typically performed by women however men also join and become part of the conversation.
In this neighbourhood isolation and loneliness is rare. Such gatherings are useful to help everyone understand what is going on locally and also discuss any issues in a positive manner.
- Quote from East Africa “ ”
If something happens at home, your neighbours are the ones who will reach you faster than your family and friends.
When I feel lonely....
I enjoy going to Granary Square because I love to see the sunrise and sunset and meet different people from all backgrounds....
I also love going to the gym... I don’t always need someone to talk to, but being around people makes me feel connected.
Conducting Research on Isolation and Loneliness
As this is a very sensitive topic, some of my interviewees were comfortable opening up, and others found the topic difficult to talk about.
This was one of the challenging aspects.
I always made sure to choose quiet and private spaces to conduct discussions and offer interviewees a drink or try to make them comfortable. Moreover, I tried to be positive and non-judgemental, with a friendly attitude.
Another challenge is finding the right people.
Even though I found residents to interview, community research is often unreliable. There was a lot of cancelling, rescheduling or asking about incentives etc.
Another issue was the difficulty of finding a suitable place like the library, open spaces like parks and community spaces to interview people. However, I managed to interview some residents inside the estate and public places. I found it was important to go to the people rather than expecting them to come to me.
Nini
I m et Nini at a local Estate Action Day. She was so excited to actually meet council engagement staff in person on her estate.
Nini is East African but she has lived in South-Central Camden for more than twenty years, having travelled to the UK as a refugee in her early 20s. She is a mother of two and works a part-time job as well.
She has struggled with feelings of loneliness for a long time, something that began when her children were quite young. She struggled with the language barrier and trying to connect with a culture very different to the one she grew up in. As a result she described not having the tools to effectively communicate with her children’s teachers, other parents, and medical professionals amongst others.
She says that she can understand English and can now communicate well but still feels she cannot ‘engage’ properly. She said that she has always tried to be friendly and greet a few neighbours but still felt lonely and isolated, finding it difficult to make meaningful friendships or find someone to talk to when she needed help or information. As a result, her loneliness started to turn into sadness, as she felt everyone was turning their back on her.
This has even affected her UK-born children as she feels like her disconnection from the community impact them.
She struggled to engage with the teachers and other parents having missed information from the school about like inset days or events. She often ended up making innocent mistakes, failing to attend many things at the school due to a lack of understanding. She even missed the deadline to apply for secondary school.
As a result, herself and her children are often despondent. She said that the communication barrier often leaves her feeling confused and lost. She doesn’t understand what the school procedures are.
Nini would love for the local Council to do more events with her community to help everyone feel supported and embraced.
The school and Council need to step up and proactively develop new opportunities for tenants to get to know each other through community coffee mornings or afternoon teas. Each and every individual can learn from each other.
She told me that she believes a lot of parents, particularly of different backgrounds, are feeling the same, and for working parents having access to clear information is key to balancing their busy lives..
No
matter how long you live in social or private housing you can always feel like you are a stranger.
”
- Nini, Camden resident.
Don’t just sit and wait for someone to rescue you from loneliness. Start from yourself, be approachable and say hello to your neighbours.
-
Clare, Camden resident.
Clare
Clare lives near Kings Cross, she is a good neighbour of mine. She is part of the Tenant Residents Association based around the Kings Cross area.
As she has lived around the area for more than thirty years, she has a huge amount of knowledge about the area and the the local Council. She is very popular in the community and has amazing engagement skills with her neighbours.
She is a single mum to an autistic child and is also working full time. On top of all this she is very outgoing, always welcoming the new residents no matter where they come from.
What I like about Clare is that whenever she gets a chance, she approaches and introduces herself. She always has a positive attitude towards new neighbours, something you don’t always see in London. She always greets people warmly with a friendly attitude.
She told me that when she first moved to this area, she found it very difficult to mix and make friends, and felt a sense of loneliness despite being in the middle of a busy city.
To combat this she started getting involved with the local community. She made a conscious decision to approach new neighbours, welcome them and help them settle in the area.
She is a good listener and tries to help and support any new residents with young families, students, migrants and elderly people who recently moved in.
Philip
Philip lives near me, and always encourages me about the work I am doing with Camden Council. He has worked for Camden in various roles a few times and is always happy to respond to any survey, research or questions. Therefore, I nominated him to be one of the respondents and arranged interviews with him as soon as I had my questionnaires ready.
He turned up at the library a few minutes late, but the interview went really well. He explained how he can struggle with loneliness as a single dad, feeling that there are few places he can go to fit in and meet people.
He also struggled with his housing situation, only having one bedroom which isn’t good for his child. He said his housing means he is not comfortable inviting family and friends over to celebrate and felt particularly locked in during the pandemic. He said he would love the council to organise events and motivate residents to mix with each others as he feels currently days he doesn’t even know his closest neighbours.
My housing situation is making me feel isolated.... - Philip, Camden resident. “ ”
Groups struggled with isolation that I encountered in my research were:-
- Parents with small children.
- Re fugees and or migrants with different backgrounds, including Asian, African and Caribbean.
- Elde rly parents whose children moved away because they cannot afford a home nearby.
- Students moving to Camden for education purposes.
- Resid ents who have low income who can’t afford to socialise.
- Over crowded residents.
- Ho mebound or housebound resident, meaning those unable to leave their home without difficulty.
The types of isolation I heard about from Camden residents were:-
- Social isolation.
- Isola tion due to being homebound.
- Sta te of housing isolation.
- Isol ation from being a new resident.
- Fin ancial isolation.
Groups Struggling with Isolation
Social isolation
One of the most common forms of loneliness or isolation I came across was social isolation, where some people who would love to meet and discuss and share ideas feel that this is missing from their lives. Many residents feel that they do not have someone to talk to amongst their fellow Camden residents, and find it difficult to meet and make friends. As many residents are coming from all over the world, they are sometimes not comfortable talking to their neighbours, so the Council needs to be the ice breaker.
Isolation due to being homebound
Isolation caused by the state of the housing not being suitable to tenants disabilities or mobility issues, meaning that they can’t leave the premises independently with ease. After the pandemic, some people still feel like they are isolated and find it difficult to leave home, especially elderly people, who are vulnerable with health conditions.
State of housing isolation
I spoke to residents who felt like their housing situation, such as being very overcrowded, prevented them from inviting friends over to socialise. Others felt like they were embarrassed by the condition of their housing which caused similar issues.
Isolation from being a ne w resident
Many residents in Camden are new to the borough, and many are even new to the country. Being new to a culture can often leave you feeling unsure of how to make friends or approach people in the ‘proper’ way. Language barriers and religious or culture clashes can make fitting in to a new community a big challenge.
Financial isolation
There are also local residents who, due to their financial situation, are unable to travel to events or to see friends and family as regularly as they would like.
Socialising is becoming increasingly expensive, but it is possible to organise cheap or even free events that are meaningful to residents if near where they live.
What is the Council already doing well?
After the pandemic, a lot of people still felt like they were isolated and found it difficult to meet, especially elderly people, who are vulnerable with health conditions.
However, the Council did such an amazing job, particularly participation and engagement teams.
Estate Action Days (EADs)
On EADs the Council officers gather under one roof near to one of the estates, then each department allocates one or more officers, and the participation team organises different activities including food and drink.
The residents get a chance to talk and discuss any issues or concerns they have with the neighbourhood and also use the event as an important ice-breaker to get to know one another better. This has had a big impact on easing loneliness and isolation in Camden.
An Estate Action Day I attended.
How the Council
can cont inue to help
The Council needs to work hard towards to empower residents:
- First of all the Council needs to improve the general services, including its communications with residents, doing this with respect and patience. Following up on issues and keeping residents in the loop.
- Second would be to engage with the residents just to check up on them, but most useful would be to organise more events like Estate Action Days once or twice a year and include residents in decision making.
- Third would be opening up the Council so residents feel more involved. The residents desperately would love to feel like they are counted or heard as this will break the chain of despondency. The citizen scientist-in-residence programme I am on currently is a great example of this.
In 2023 and 2024 the council engaged intensively with residents. On these occasions it was useful for residents to not only discuss things with the council officers but also use these opportunities to open up and socialise with their neighbours. I believe that by engaging more with residents, the council can make a big difference by identifying and reacting to the causes of isolation and loneliness, and co-creating solutions alongside those in the community.
I believe the Council needs to continue empowering residents and developing a healthy relationship with communities.
For example, don’t knock on doors only when something happens, visit to ask how people are on random days.
And when any tragedy happens, see if there are ways to support the family, to help build empathy across the borough.
CAMDEN COUNCIL CITIZEN
SCIENTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE 2023-2024
Following many successful collaborations, including the Good Life Euston and Euston Young Voices projects, Camden Council have teamed up with the Institute for Global prosperity at University College London to deliver an innovative ‘Citizen Science-in-Residence’ programme for the year 2023-2024. This zine is one of the outputs from this programme.
Seven local residents were employed by Camden Council to conduct research informed by their own lived experience for the benefit of developing new council policy ideas and initiatives. As part of their residency at the council, the cohort completed a bespoke 12-month training programme with the UCL Citizen Science Academy.
Five of the citizen scientists-in-residence were connected with the development of the council’s new Community Wealth Fund Initiative and the remaining two conducted research to help inform the Tenant Engagement Programme. Through practical training and supported fieldwork using qualitative research methods, the work done by the citizen scientists-in-residence is part of a wider goal to promote citizen-led policy making and connect residents with local government.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Joseph Cook and the Camden participation teams for the support and giving me this chance also for the respondents and the Bourne Estate, Holborn library St Pancras library and finally the staffs around Granary Square.
The UCL Citizen Science Academy would also like to thank all those at Camden Council that provided support for this project, including those in the Participation and Community Wealth Fund teams. Additionally we are grateful for the input from a variety of local organisations who have hosted us throughout the year, including Luminary Bakery, Google, Training Link and Somers Town Community Association.
