Girlguides have launched a UK first with a new badge to tackle loneliness among older people.
Guides will visit homes for elderly people, putting on plays and craft sessions, to speak to senior citizens and earn the new specially-designed badge.
The scheme, which started as a tiny project in Manchester, will this week be expanded to all 5,000 Rainbows, Brownies and Girlguides in the city before a potential nationwide rollout.
The charity Age UK estimates that 1.2 million older people are chronically lonely, damaging their mental health, in an epidemic that experts fear will worsen as Britain’s population ages.
A survey carried out for the Jo Cox commission on loneliness found earlier this year that almost three-quarters of older people in the UK are lonely and more than half of those have never spoken to anyone about how they feel.
A trial run of the Girlguides badge began just before Christmas with Brownies and Rainbows hosting events for old people, including a play at a sheltered housing court, an indoor camp fire with story-telling and craft sessions.
It is part of a drive by health and council officials to improve wellbeing for youngsters and tackle loneliness in older people. A Manchester city council spokeswoman said it was also designed to emphasise the importance of communities working together and talking, especially in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing.
Former Brownie Veronica Armstrong, 67, a grandmother of 16 from Northenden in south Manchester, said: “Me and my age-group have the time to spend with children and we can give them a different view on life. We also have skills we can show them like sewing, learning to knit and doing gardening.
“Plus, a lot of my friends miss their families because they don’t live near their own children or grand kids - and they would really like to have that ongoing involvement with children’s projects.”
It was the idea of Manchester Health and Care Commissioning (MHCC), the new commissioning partnership agreement between Manchester City Council and Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group, working initially with two Brownies units in Wythenshawe and Gorton and Girlguiding Manchester’s guiding development adviser.
Ian Williamson, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning’s chief accountable officer, said: “We know that loneliness can be devastating in both its physical and psychological effects, especially for older people.
“There’s so much evidence to show how it contributes to lowering the immune system and making people more prone to illness as well as a major impact on wellbeing. If youngsters know this, they can lead by example and raise awareness of an issue that we can all help to solve.”
Helen Salvini, Girlguiding Manchester assistant county commissioner, added: “Community action is a key part of the guiding programme for all age groups and we were delighted to have the opportunity to work with Manchester Health and Care Commissioning to develop this badge.”
