Busy lives and long working hours maybe to blame for more than a third of people in the UK not being able to recognise their neighbours. No wonder there’s a loneliness epidemic with one in ten saying they are chronically lonely. It’s time for people to re-connect with their community.
In a brand new series for BBC One, James Martin spearheads a nationwide campaign designed to bring communities together and tackle the growing issue of loneliness in the UK.
James invites five celebrities to go back to the street they grew up on to find out who lives there now and help them set up a real social network.
Dave, Alex Jones (The One Show) Dom Littlewood, (Cowboy Builders & Don’t Get Done Get Dom), Helen Skelton (Holiday Hit Squad, Blue Peter) and Denise Lewis OBE (Olympic Gold medallist) visit their old haunts and inspire the locals to come together by creating a fun community event.
Along the way, the residents will form a real social network through which they can genuinely share or swap their time, skills and resources.
Each programme will feature the heart-warming stories of the local residents who are lonely or just in need of support. They may be new to the area, recently widowed or just lacking in confidence. James listens to their stories and links them up with others who have areas of common interest.
James also meets some of the UK’s most established organisations on the front line of tackling loneliness to find out what can be done to prevent and tackle isolation.
Coming later this year to BBC One. Stay tuned to hairybikers.com for the freshest news.