Presenteeism during lockdown’
Pandemic drives chats between neighbours
Twice as many people are chatting to their neighbours than this time last year, a survey suggests, as communities support each other through the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 2,500 people said they had stopped for a natter with a neighbour in the past week, according to polling.
This is six in 10 of the 4,000 people surveyed between May 10 to 13, up from 30 per cent in 2019, while one in three respondents said they had helped a neighbour during the pandemic.
When extrapolated to the UK population, this is the equivalent of 33 million people chatting with a neighbour in the last week and 15 million helping them during lockdown.
The survey was commissioned for the Big Lunch, a National Lottery-supported initiative from the Eden project, which is backed by the Duchess of Cornwall.
This time last year, about one in five people said they had nobody in their community they could call on.
Almost the same proportion had never spoken to a neighbour, with three times fewer people saying this is the case now.
Sixteen per cent of respondents said they had spoken to someone they did not know before the pandemic.
Seven in 10 said people in their area are more likely to stop for a chat, and threequarters want this new-found friendliness to continue after lockdown.
Ainsley Harriott, a Big Lunch ambassador, said: “It is important for us to stay connected to our communities as we are relying on our neighbours more than ever.
“It’s heartening to see neighbourhoods looking out for each other, forming online contact groups and shopping for those who need help.
“We may not be able to go to restaurants or have parties right now but that doesn’t mean we can’t share a meal.”
Dawn Austwick, chief executive of the National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The kindness, support and resilience of our communities have always been there but it is in times of crisis that these come to the fore.”
Last year, six million people held street parties as part of 100,000 Big Lunch events, and next weekend it will go virtual for the first time.
With social distancing still in place, people are being urged to take the get-together online.