Making Space for Friendships using a Warm Welcome approach

To create lasting change, make space for people to forge new friendships which will last outside a group setting and help to sustain them.
About this Event

Just getting someone to a group can be hard (to find out more about that look at events in the Finding the older people you’d really like to meet collection).

Findings gathered during the Ageing Better programme showed that to reduce someone’s loneliness they don’t just need to attend a group once, they need to be able to start to make new friendships which will continue outside that group.

This means they need to attend regularly, and have opportunities in that group setting to meet new people. You can create a welcoming space where people can feel comfortable and safe, this gives them a chance to make bonds of friendship which will last outside the group setting and sustain people as individuals. Colleagues at Time to Shine, and Ageing Better in Camden tried a lot of ways of making this work.

Join us to find out more and talk to colleagues about how you can take these practical steps in your settings.

We'll be thinking about creating a warm welcome, reducing cliques where you can, and making sure people get to meet and chat.

There will be a chance for you to share ideas with others during this event.

(NB Just as with 8 year olds you can’t make them make friends, but you can give them a chance)