Coffee vans and sheds lined up to ward off loneliness

MOBILE coffee vans that move between country villages to provide a focus for the elderly to meet up and chat are being backed by ministers in a £20 million bid to tackle loneliness.

Other schemes supported by ministers include enabling middle-aged men to meet in sheds for woodworking, and an app to help young mothers meet up.

They are also supporting plans to convert redundant public spaces into “loneliness gardens”.

The ideas are being championed by ministers as examples to encourage charity groups to apply to a new National Lottery fund to tackle loneliness.

Ministers are inviting bids for the Building Connections fund from next month ahead of a major strategy launch on loneliness in the autumn.

Theresa May said the funding for anti-loneliness projects “will make a big difference, helping more people to establish and maintain connections”.

The Prime Minister said: “Feeling lonely or isolated can have a profound and devastating impact on people’s lives – it can affect anyone of any age and from any background.

“But just as loneliness can affect any of us, so any of us can help to overcome it.”

Tracey Crouch, the culture minister in charge of developing the policy, told The Daily Telegraph: “This funding will support charities across the country that are fighting against loneliness.”