Loneliness Roadshow Arrived in Doncaster, to Mark the new ADASS Presidency of Phil Holmes
A loneliness ‘roadshow’ event took place at the EcoPower Stadium at Doncaster Rovers Football Ground, on Thursday 11 June.
Adult social care leaders, charities, academics and civil servants from across the country joined with Doncaster residents to take part in an interactive day designed to tackle loneliness including debates, workshops and talks – including from a social care companion robot.
The event was run by the Campaign to End Loneliness – hosted by Sheffield Hallam University – and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). Alongside addressing loneliness, the event marked the start of Phil Holmes’ year-long stint as President of ADASS after being elected to the top role by his peers.
Mr Holmes, who is the Executive Director of Adults, Wellbeing and Culture at the City of Doncaster Council, said: “I’m delighted that a national conversation about adult social care and tackling loneliness happened in Doncaster.
“Adult social care is about helping everyone to live the best life possible and you can’t do that if you aren’t feeling connected to the people and the activities that are important to you. We can’t tackle loneliness without giving adult social care the resources it needs to help people thrive.”
Through a series of talks and debates, the team from the Campaign to End Loneliness drew out ideas for how to best tackle loneliness and fed these into a new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). The Group, which saw MPs meeting regularly with interested parties to discuss the issue and work for change, launched an inquiry later in June as part of loneliness awareness week.
The campaign is led by Professor Andrea Wigfield who is the Director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. She said: “Our loneliness roadshows are a great way of bringing information, research and debate to different corners of the UK and we were delighted to visit Doncaster.
“By engaging local communities, including the very people who draw on care and support, we get a rich tapestry of ideas and information to feed into our research. Tackling loneliness is more important than ever. It affects all of us at some time in our lives and, if not addressed, can lead to chronic loneliness which can be as damaging as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
The day also explored how Technology Enabled Care can support people who may be living alone, and was sponsored by Kingfisher Phoenix who brought along and demonstrated their social care robot named ElliQ.
Sarah McClinton, Chief Social Worker for Adults in England, hosted a session on connecting people in adult social care, while Grandma’s Soup, an intergenerational project, hosted lunch.
The afternoon featured a panel session and Q&A looking at the role of adult social care in the experiences of loneliness. President’s Day concluded by setting out actions to address the issues and challenges surrounding loneliness ahead of the APPG.
