East Belfast Ulster Unionist Party representatives, Andy Allen MLA and Councillor Carole Howard, have called on the Northern Ireland Executive to appoint a lead Department to take forward a loneliness strategy.   

Councillor Howard said: 

“At every opportunity, I have raised the need for a loneliness strategy to be brought forward. Back in July, I raised the need for the development of a loneliness strategy alongside a ‘Happy to Chat’ initiative across Belfast and the first stage of this saw a bench in the grounds of City Hall repurposed as part of the initiative.  

“Loneliness can affect any one of us, young or old and therefore we must develop meaningful intervention through a properly resourced strategy complemented by initiatives such as the ‘Happy to Chat’ bench which has been adopted by several councils. 

Mr Allen said:

“My colleague Carole recently raised the need for a loneliness strategy with me. I wrote to the Minister for Communities - who has responsibility for a suite of social strategies - to ascertain what work, if any, had commenced on a loneliness strategy. The response I received advised that the Department has factored in loneliness as part of the wider social strategies. However, a decision on whether or not to progress a standalone strategy and the appropriate lead Department would be a matter for the Executive. 

“We are therefore calling on the Executive to take steps now to formally appoint a lead Department to commence work on a standalone loneliness strategy.”