Lonely Society part 2

Following on from my last post, I’ve come across another couple of reports that suggest one of our most pressing needs is to tackle the isolation brought about by our individualistic society.

The Young Foundation undertook a series of studies between 2007 and 2009 to try and map the needs of people in the UK. Obviously a variety of needs were identified, but under the category of psychological needs the report notes that a million people have no-one to turn to and no-one who appreciates them. That’s nearly 1 in 60 people who have no one in their lives who cares for them! That means that there is almost certainly someone living on my street and yours, who has no one looking out for them.

Co-operatives UK have compared data from 1982 and 2010 in order to compile a picture of the change in the state of neighbourliness in the UK. As you might expect, the news isn’t great. According to their findings, Britain is becoming a fragmented society of individuals who know fewer people well—whether neighbours or friends—and are frightened of speaking to strangers. And the number of people who say they suffer from loneliness has more than doubled. They conclude that the UK is half as neighbourly as it was three decades ago. For example, in 1982, the majority of us would speak to our neighbours at least once a day, compared to less than once a week in 2010. And in 1982 we knew the names of six more neighbours than we do today. Apparently we are still as willing to help out a neighbour in need, but of course if we don’t know our neighbours, we won’t be aware of their needs.

So there is a real need in our local communities and one which is relatively easy to meet. Simply inviting your neighbours round for a drink, or a barbeque, or asking how they are when you see them in the street, is a simple but potentially life-transforming expression of Jesus’ command to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.

Tim