Speak to neighbours to help ease pain of loneliness, urges minister

● Bid to reduce social isolation ● Elderly people most at risk

People should speak to their neighbours more often and reconnect with old friends as part of efforts to reduce the impact of loneliness on society, the Scottish Government has said.

Scots each have an individual responsibility to help end social isolation by engaging in “acts of kindness” more often, according to a new national strategy on loneliness.

The draft document is aimed at making Scotland one of the first countries in the world to develop a national plan to tackle loneliness.

It was published as Prime Minister Theresa May appointed Tracey Crouch as the UK’S first minister for loneliness and said that a crossgovernment strategy would follow later this year.

The appointment was one of a series of recommendations made by the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness, created after the MP was murdered by a far-right terrorist.

Asurveyofalmost500people by the Scottish Health Council last year estimated around one in ten people in Scotland “often” feel lonely. The problem is particularly prevalent among older people, with the Mental Health Foundation warning that up to 120,000 over-65s could have undiagnosed depression as a result.

0 People are being asked to talk to neighbours and engage in ‘acts of kindness’ out to someone you haven’t seen in a while, or just a small act of kindness that can make a stranger’s day – all of this can go a long way to helping everyone feel part of their community.”

In a survey of Scottish households in 2015, almost a quarter of people said they did not have a “strong sense of belonging” to their local community.

The draft strategy also called for more people to try volunteering.