Loneliness project builds connections using cafe catch ups, board games and podcasts (2024)

WARNING: This article contains references to mental health and suicide.

When Brad Sullivan tells his dog Tasha that it's bedtime, she runs to the front door expecting to sleep in the car.

After all, that is where the pair slept when Brad was experiencing homelessness.

He had a work injury and when his finances ran dry, he was forced to choose between his car and his house.

Not wanting to lose his freedom, he chose his car.

But the social isolation Brad experienced being homeless drove him to extreme loneliness and depression.

"I just sat in my car day in, day out, by myself," he said.

"I was pretty down and out, I had nowhere to turn, I felt pretty suicidal."

He described loneliness as being by yourself with nobody to talk to.

Speaking through tears, he said he developed connections and support after attending The Hut Community Centre at Aldgate in the Adelaide Hills.

He met others through the centre and began volunteering in their repair cafe.

It was at the community centre that a pilot loneliness project for women was underway — and there are now plans to expand the initiative to help men like Brad.

Brainstorming to tackle loneliness

Victoria Veitch, 34, was one of the participants in the pilot project.

She lives with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and said she struggled to make friends growing up.

"It took me years to learn how to make friends and then it took me even longer to learn how to maintain them," she said.

"By the time I had even established one or two friends I was in my mid-twenties."

She struggled to find new connections after moving to the Adelaide Hills and said although her generation used social media, it could not replace face-to-face interactions.

She said the pilot project was about preventing loneliness before it happened.

It involved women in the community working with the centre and a team at the University of South Australia to brainstorm and co-design programs to connect people.

The participants reflected on their own experiences of loneliness and how they could help others in similar situations.

One of the initiatives included a cafe model, where participants met and were connected by a facilitator.

Other initiatives include a self-development course, podcast, board games and soccer, along with volunteering to "spark" connections throughout the community.

There is hope this model could be mirrored and implemented in other parts of Australia.

Victoria said being involved was one of the "absolute highlights" of her life.

"If you are lonely, go out and meet people … if you don't go out and challenge yourself and meet people face-to-face, you will remain lonely," she said.

Financial struggles a risk factor for persistent loneliness

New research released this week from the Ending Loneliness Together network found that one in every four Australians have been persistently lonely this year.

Tasmania and the Northern Territory had the highest levels of persistent loneliness, followed by Victoria and South Australia.

Contributing factors that influenced whether a person was feeling lonely included financial wellbeing and cost of living, mental health, relationship status and cultural and linguistic diversity.

The research found that Australians who were struggling financially were seven times more likely to be persistently lonely.

Nadia Corsini is a senior research fellow who has been working with The Hut Community Centre to tackle loneliness and said people were spending less time with others than ever before.

Dr Corsini said more people were choosing to stay home than go out, and that could be associated with having to spend money.

She said the guided program that addresses loneliness was still being developed based on what women felt they needed, but was pleased that the project would soon be expanded to men.

"Especially with the cost-of-living challenges at the moment, having creative solutions for what people can do together that's fun and enjoyable is such a good idea," Dr Corsini said.

She described the loneliness "epidemic" as "urgent" and hoped the project would be copied around the country.

Young people are affected, too

South Australian Human Services Minister Nat Cook said loneliness had been a problem for a long time but that it had not always been spoken about openly.

She said isolation and lockdowns during COVID-19 led to more awareness about loneliness in mainstream communities.

"We know up at The Hut they've been doing some fantastic work around this and in general, community centres in South Australia," Ms Cook said.

The new Ending Loneliness Together research also revealed that 41 per cent of young adults aged between 18 and 24 had been persistently lonely.

Ms Cook said the SA government had become strategic with its grant funding and that solutions to youth loneliness may well be something considered in conjunction with the Youth Action Plan.

"Young people are thirsty for knowledge about how to access programs, activities, recreation and supports to help them transition into adulthood," she said.

"I think there's something for us to take away from that. And we certainly will be looking at how we can improve those circ*mstances for young people in our community."