Young people more at risk of ‘lockdown loneliness’, but multi-generational friendships are bridging the gap

Young people are more than twice as likely to have experienced ‘lockdown loneliness’ than those over the age of 55.

A total of 50.8pc of people aged 16 to 24 say they’ve experienced the feeling since the pandemic first struck in March, while only 24.1pc of those aged 55 to 69 reported the same.

But while the figures from loneliness charity the Cares Family show young people are lonely, the older generation have been hit hardest by the physical impacts of COVID-19, with death rates much higher in the over 60s.

The Manchester branch of the Cares Family, Manchester Cares, has been putting younger and older people together locally to provide mutual support and bridge the age divide during the pandemic.

Alice, 23, befriended 69-year-old Charles when she started volunteering for Manchester Cares last year and she’s really glad they’ve been keeping in touch and checking in on each other during lockdown.

The pair have two phone calls a week and chat about all sorts, as well as life in general.

Alice said: “I lived in Manchester city centre near Ancoats and its great to meet people who have lived there all their lives and watched Manchester change.

"They’ve got these amazing stories and such different life experiences.

“If I’m feeling a bit low or working from home has been a struggle that day, it’s good to have that time to remove yourself from that and distract yourself.

"Talking to Charles really lifts my mood. It makes me feel happy, valued and gives me a sense of purpose.

“I’m so happy we’ve had each other through lockdown, because I know he found it hard at the beginning because of his shielding.

"And it’s lovely having someone to talk to outside your circle, like your family your living with, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

Alice has helped get Charles up and running online, helping him set up Zoom calls, sort his emails and get back involved with all of the social clubs he was a part of before lockdown began.

Charles, who’s family all live in Aberdeen, has also downloaded Spotify to listen to Alice’s favourite artists and the pair have begun swapping music recommendations.

He’s even working on a poem, called ‘Alice, My Guardian Angel’.

He said: “It’s good to talk to someone, someone you get on with.

"We can talk about health problems, things to pass away the time, what we’ve been up to in lockdown.”

Charles hasn’t seen his family in Scotland for more than 12 months – he was meant to be going up in April for his birthday and had a train ticket booked, but then he got a letter from Boris Johnson.

He said: “I’ve haven’t been able to go out in 12 weeks because I’m classed as vulnerable.

"It has been hard.

“But Alice is very good to talk to, she’s a good listener and I think Manchester Cares partnering young and older people is a very good idea.”

A study released in January this year shows the UK is one of the most age-segregated countries in the world, and COVID hasn’t made this any better.

The over-70s have been instructed to shield by the Government and have been doing so for over three months now.

This ‘enforced social isolation’ is a concern for the CEO of Care Family, Alex Smith.

He said: “Care homes have been ravaged both by the virus and the isolation.

"Meanwhile, reports of long term ‘shielding’ of people over 70 – in other words, enforced social isolation – have led to complaints of unfairness, victimisation and a future for older people that is unimaginably bleak.

“But this awful virus is not only affecting the lives of our older relatives, friends and neighbours.

"We already know that the oncoming recession will hit young people hardest.

"With the depth and breadth of the economic shutdown, prolonged joblessness is a real fear.”

But Alex said he noticed a new “intergenerational phenomenon” when Boris Johnson first called the lockdown and his charity is continuing to try and bridge the age gap.

He said: “At The Cares Family, we received hundreds of new offers of help to connect older and younger people in new ways.

Virtual social clubs have offered a lifeline for younger and older people alike, with octogenarians enjoying yoga, disco dancing and happy hour, and Millennials and Gen Z-ers learning about days gone by.

“Thousands of phone calls between younger and older people have provided opportunities for new shared fun and feeling.”

Alex added: “Many of the older people we work with at The Cares Family have shown the depth of their resilience and stoicism.

"They are as worried about their younger friends as younger people are concerned about them.

“That empathy matters. It matters because, while older people may be the most vulnerable to the virus, younger people are shown to be most vulnerable to lockdown loneliness.”

For more information about Manchester Cares and how to get involved, visit their website at: https://manchestercares.org.uk/home#

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