We were recently in Arbroath showing our new Innovations award to our friends at Angus Voice. It was great to catch up and hear how things were going since our Angus McFlourish project ended.

In the Angus McFlourish project we worked with people from Angus Voice, who experience mental health difficulties, to put together a schedule of activities to prevent isolation and loneliness. There were some things the group did once, like a bowls taster session or Christmas decoration making but most of the activities were things the group could do together regularly, each week or month.

We know that experiencing loneliness and feeling that you would like to have more friends are not things that are only experienced by people with mental health difficulties. Just this week the Guardian published an article sharing advice on how to make friends and presented statistics on loneliness in the UK. In the article Amy Sedghi argued that it is hard to make friends as an adult and that having shared experiences is a simple way to make friends.

Loneliness is something we all feel at times and to varying degrees, but it can also be something that we feel uneasy about admitting to.

We were so delighted to hear that all of the regular activities set up during the Angus McFlourish project are still running despite the project ending over seven months ago. This is all down to the people involved in the project being so proactive and really taking the project on as their own. It’s fantastic to know that people in Arbroath now have lots of different activities to choose from and lots of opportunities to make friends.

Before the project we didn’t have anything to do, now we have diaries that are full of fun activities. It makes me feel a lot better.

During the project we also produced three resources. One focused on getting through Christmas and New Year, as we know this can be an especially difficult time for lots of people. Another shared information on what ordinary community resources can be used to help meet with other people in the community and alleviate isolation. Finally we produced a resource looking at how to make friends and stay connected.

Thank you to Voluntary Action Fund for funding the Angus McFlourish project through their Social Isolation and Loneliness fund. To find out more about what we did in the project click here.