Free training sessions in Haverhill could help the community to reduce social isolation and loneliness

A project that aims to reduce loneliness and support people who are socially isolated is heading to Haverhill.

Free Building Connections in West Suffolk workshops aimed at the voluntary and community sector (VCS) are being run at Haverhill Arts Centre on June 4 and 5, 10am-12.30pm.

The training is being run by the non-profit organisation Civil Society Consulting (CSC) CIC, in partnership with NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust, Community Action Suffolk and the Jo Cox Foundation.

It forms part of a broader, national initiative called 32 Steps to Togetherness and is funded by the National Lottery.

The need to address social isolation in Haverhill is something witnessed first hand by one of the directors of CSC, Mark Ereira-Guyer, as he canvassed in the town in the build-up to last July’s General Election, when he stood as the Green Party candidate for West Suffolk.

Mark, a former councillor at St Edmundsbury, said he had seen ‘lots of people living on their own and and probably not involved with the range of things they should be engaging with’.

“There were two or three guys that came out and they were really isolated,” he said.

“I think they were hyper-confused by the modern world. I think people are feeling like nobody’s interested in them and nobody cares and that feeds into a malaise which we have got up and down the country.

“You just saw that lack of emotional health, If we can put it that way.”

The training has already been delivered to more than 400 VCS and statutory professionals in areas such as Greater Manchester, London, the North East and Eastern England, the Midlands, including Stoke-on-Trent and Derby – and in June will also be heading to Thetford.

All are welcome to sign up – email natasha@civilsocietyconsulting.co.uk or call 07880 558802.