A VCS-led shared vision for tackling loneliness in Norfolk
Across the UK, people are experiencing isolation and loneliness, which is having a negative impact on health, equality, and social cohesion.
This summer, we partnered with Community Action Norfolk (CAN) and Norfolk County Council (NCC) to deliver Capacity Building workshops to 35 grassroots voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations and statutory professionals in Norfolk, who are motivated to tackle the isolation and loneliness we see in our communities.
Over two half-mornings, participants used their lived experiences and expertise in supporting communities to foster a shared understanding of the causes and consequences of loneliness, building long-lasting collaborative relationships with one another.
The workshop was used as an opportunity for the authentic and organic co-development of a place-based loneliness strategy. Participants, through their sharing, learning, and prioritization, produced a Norfolk-wide shared vision for building connection and community. Additionally, a network of active change-makers —who we continue to support — are mobilised to realise this vision as part of an unified effort.
A report capturing the shared vision, along with the findings and ideas that got us there is now published, here.
The Backstory
As part of our Lottery-funded 32 Steps to Togetherness initiative, which aims to empower the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to foster stronger connections within and across communities, we’re delivering Building Connections Workshops in various parts of the UK, including Tees Valley, Northern Manchester, and Stoke. The learning materials (previously called ‘Loneliness Reduction Training’) were originally developed in collaboration with the Campaign to End Loneliness (CtEL) in 2020. The original training was piloted with grassroots organisations across these same localities, thanks to National Lottery Community Fund funding.
Our partnership
In Norfolk, Community Action Norfolk (CAN) has been a key in addressing loneliness through their Social Isolation and Loneliness Support project and their work delivering capacity-building support to local VCS organisations.
Meanwhile, Norfolk County Council (NCC) has been exploring ways to coordinate efforts on loneliness while avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. By gathering community intelligence, NCC sought to refine its role and strengthen partnerships to address social isolation effectively.
Recognising the vital role of the VCS in reducing social isolation, we joined forces with CAN and NCC to deliver the Building Connections Workshops in Norfolk.
The workshops
Over two mornings participants:
Deepened their expertise, by leveraging a range of personal and professional experiences;
Fostered a shared understanding of loneliness across sectors and across Norfolk, collaboratively discussing causes, solutions and barriers that would lead into a shared vision for Norfolk’s strategic approach, and
Built and strengthened their relationships with other VCS and statutory professionals.
After the workshops, we effectively had the beginnings of a strategy. We worked collaboratively with CAN and NCC to summarise the insights, suggestions and notable conclusions that emerged from discussions. We reconvened the participants for multiple meetings to iteratively review and discuss what we’d captured, establishing a shared vision for Norfolk’s strategic approach. The vision is underpinned by two key pillars, and broken down into four key action areas. The co-productive process has mobilised a network of change-makers in a unified effort to work together in a coordinated yet bottom up approach to reducing loneliness. We want to do what we can to support them!
Norfolk’s shared vision
The vision?
A bottom-up approach, with the statutory system’s role being to ‘steward’ and ‘water’ a garden of community-led initiatives
Getting on the front foot with prevention, by stimulating behavioural and cultural change.
Four key action areas:
1. “Watering the garden” and, in particular, what’s working.
Support activities that are working and growing new ones
Support organisations to develop pathways for service users to graduate on to becoming volunteers
2. Promote key narratives that reframe loneliness as enhancing community life and encourage a behavioural and cultural shift
Re-frame and de-medicalise loneliness across the board
Capture and share stories in a joint, grassroots social media campaign
3. An enabling environment for enriched community life - for VCS organisations and community members to practise neighbourliness.
Early identification, support at critical life stages, improved referral pathways
Enable volunteer-led initiatives
Nurture the network
Explore, pilot and scale community-led transport initiatives:
4. Extra support in some cases
Social confidence:
Home-based options
Improved referral pathways
Click below to read the full report and a more detailed breakdown of the shared vision for Norfolk County Council.
