Voluntary Sector Support Guidance
Help someone who is feeling lonely
Little things mean a lot, and right now every kind act matters. Here are some tips to help combat loneliness.
This page has been put together using ideas and resources from colleagues, charities and our own thoughts. We hope you will enjoy connecting this Christmas.
Spread Christmas spirit
- Rather than just ‘Deck your halls…’ why not brighten someone’s day and ask everyone in your street to decorate their front window for everyone to enjoy
- Have you posted your Christmas cards to friends and family yet? Why not buy or make a few extra and send a friendly message to neighbours along your street
- Create a festive sparkle with fairy lights to cheer up your house and your neighbourhood
- As the man who created Charlie Brown once said “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone”. Write a Christmas poem or a letter to someone on their own.
- Leave a pack of mince pies on your neighbour’s doorstep
Look out for your neighbours
- Take time to talk. Why not knock on the door of a neighbour who’s on their own, stand back and have a chat
- Not all the best conversations happen in the kitchen at a party : ) Remember to stop and have a natter over your garden fence
- Why not sit outside your front door with a hot chocolate & a blanket and suggest your neighbour does the same for a socially distanced natter
- Make a Christmas card and post to your neighbours. A home-made card says “I took some time on this - just for you”
- It’s amazing how just a wave and a smile can make such a difference to someone living on their own
Call friends and family
- Pick up the phone and call that person you haven’t spoken to for ages. The connection you rekindle can make their – and your - day, week & Christmas!
- Have a video chat with family or friends who live on their own
- Encourage someone who’s struggling with a motivational text
Organisations that can help
In the Horsham District we have many charities working hard to help make life better for everyone. Here are a few details of key charities who can help combat loneliness.
