Youth organisation Woodcraft Folk is a proud member of the Co-op movement which has brought back it’s Lonely Not Alone campaign for 2022. The campaign by Co-op Foundation focuses on tackling the stigma of youth loneliness. It matters because 95% of young people say they feel lonely but only 35% feel confident talking about it.
Lonely Not Alone is co-designed every year with young people so they can have an authentic and meaningful say.
You can support the campaign by:
- visiting lonelynotalone.org to add a message of support to young people everywhere who feel lonely. Your message could make a real difference.
- encouraging young people you know to read stories and messages at lonelynotalone.org to see they’re not alone. They could post their own story, too, if they wish
- Post on social media using thehashtag #LonelyNotAlone. By spreading the word online, we can reach even more lonely young people.
As part of the campaign, there is a useful Youth Work Pack which contains session plans for youth workers and creative leaders who want to explore the topic of loneliness that should of our group leaders may find helpful which can be accessed here.
Central to the campaign is the Lonely Not Alone Universe, ‘a place to know we’re not alone. The ‘universe’ is a website which provides a safe space for young people to share stories and read messages of support and for people who may not be lonely themselves, a place to share a messages of support. Each story shared on the website is mapped as a constellation against a real constellation, so young people can look up at the night sky from their bedroom window or your back garden and see their star up there, shining bright.
Loneliness is something that happened to us; it isn’t shameful or embarrassing. And loneliness isn’t forever; there was a before, and there will be an after.
Saying we’re lonely may feel like a small step, but it takes a lot of courage. By sharing our stories we can take that step together.
Co-op Foundation says:
“So however hard it feels, we keep burning bright. And when an opportunity to share our story or to support someone going through a hard time appears, we take that one small step.”
Help us show young people that youth loneliness matters and head to the Longley Not Alone Universe here .
If you need to talk to someone right now, call ChildLine on 0800 1111 or The Samaritans on 116 123. They are both there to listen.
