What is Loneliness Awareness Week?​

Celebrating ten years, Loneliness Awareness Week (LAW) is a week dedicated to raising awareness of loneliness. It's all about creating supportive communities by having open, honest conversations. Loneliness is a natural human emotion - we are hardwired to need social connections. By talking about it, we can support ourselves and others.

The campaign centres on a powerful message which resonates with many. We've trended on Twitter, reached 271.5 million people in one week with the campaign, and each year we've seen tens of thousands of organisations, charities and individuals get involved, including the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, Mayor of London, NHS trusts, and all Government departments.

Who runs the campaign?

Marmalade Trust is a leading loneliness charity offering support for all ages, dedicated to raising awareness of loneliness and empowering people to make connections. We launched Loneliness Awareness Week in 2017 and it grows in momentum each year across the UK and internationally.

What can the campaign achieve?

Loneliness Awareness Week is vital in increasing awareness and understanding of loneliness and we can create a more connected society.

Whilst we’re seeing an increase in discussion on the subject, stigma remains and some key misconceptions still need to be challenged. Ask anyone to picture a lonely person and most will imagine an older person living on their own. As such, we often rebuke and dismiss feelings of loneliness because ‘that doesn’t apply to me’.

By identifying and acknowledging all the times that we have personally felt and experienced loneliness, we can start to change our viewpoint, accept it and understand how to take action to manage the feeling (and our social connections) in the future.

Support us

From sponsored runs to film nights and cake sales, fundraising is a brilliant way to support us. Your fundraising will raise the money that’s crucial to help Marmalade Trust support some of the loneliest people in our region to make connections and have fun. It will also help us run national and international campaigns, such as LAW to raise awareness about loneliness across all sections of society. And it can be fun and rewarding – you get to choose exactly what you do!