Loneliness has been described as absence of meaningful social interaction to include intimate relationship, friendships, family gatherings, or even community or work group connections. It has also been described as the perceived sense of isolation with as many as 9 million Britons being reported as lonely in 2017, a significant 14% of the entire population.

When considering the impact of loneliness, Mother Theresa said that loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty comes to mind. Loneliness, as a public health issue, became worse during the COVID-19 as physical distancing rules led to a lack of social contact and worsening of pre-existing mental health conditions. It also reduces creativity and has a negative impact on reasoning and decision making.

Youths on a lonely path

According to an Alterline report, one of the primary barriers to learning at the University of Salford is the feeling of isolation from the learning community. There are several factors contributing to this, including not being able to get the social experience that is desired from university life, not feeling a part of the community of staff and students, not feeling satisfied with fitting in and making new friends and so on.

But while the issues around loneliness are undeniable, it is worth mentioning that efforts have gone into tackling the issue both at the national level in the United Kingdom and also at the university level too.
According to the loneliness annual report for January 2021 in the UK, a total of £31.3 million has been allocated to combat loneliness through partnering with different charities. Even though as high as 59% of students say they are lonely most of the time, these efforts do not specifically focus on students.

Numerous opportunities, initiatives, and resources are currently accessible to students at the University of Salford, including Atmosphere, a place where they can congregate and make new acquaintances over meals and drinks; There are volunteer opportunities to give students the chance to perform charity services, and there is an international café that offers a weekly forum for interaction between local and foreign participants both physically and virtually. Rafiki, a peer-to-peer support programme; Give-It-A-Go, an opportunity for a wide range of connections through craft to sports; Umii, an app designed to support students to make friends before and during university; and a host of other services are also available.

Hence, students need to take an active role in their mental health by engaging in the solutions they have so thoughtfully suggested during the Alterline survey, such as making time for hobbies, practicing breathing techniques, being mindful, getting out of the house, and not overthinking things.

As your Officer for the School of Health and Society I am making it my main objective this year to do what I can to help ease student loneliness and will be aiding the Students’ Union in providing lots of on campus events throughout the year. Keep your eyes peeled for our Christmas line up!