Loneliness impacts a lot of people and it can be vey isolating , according to AGE UK: "3.6 million older people in the UK live alone, of whom over 2 million are aged 75+ and 1.9 million older people often fell ignored or invisible."
Mathilda, talks about the project on the mend and how it's supporting people who feel lonely. Can writing a postcard help loneliness?
As a society we are more connected than ever before online, yet we are reporting higher levels of loneliness. Loneliness has negative effects on both mental and physical health and is an increasingly serious issue. MP Jo Cox brought this issue into the political conversation before her death in 2016. Following this, the current government created a Minister of Loneliness within the departments for the culture , media and sport.
On 20th January 'on the mend' took this concept to the Tate Exchange at the Tate Modern, as part of the event aiming to highlight relationships between art and politics. 'on the mend' is collective of designers who have come together with the intention of improving healthcare environments. They tackle social issues by designing creative participation events.
The collective hosted an interactive pop up where members of the public were invited to write letters to people who might be experiencing loneliness. The pop up provided a great space for people to meet each other, make friends, write letters and support a good cause. We had over 700 visitors to the event and over 300 postcards were written.
The images on the reverse of the postcards join o form a continuous interlocking pattern- hands reaching out to one another. Participants were invited to write a personal message, ether of their own choosing or in response to a prompt question:
- "what is your favourite time of the day?"
- "what is your favourite season?"
- "what fictional place would you most like to visit?"
- "what small things make your day better?"
These questions were used as conversation starter, giving the postcards a focus. These were thought to be topics for conversation that could connect shared experiences, remember things that can be comforting , and access their creative imaginations.
We are in the process of distributing these post cards. We welcome responses to the postcards and your thoughts about how art can tackle loneliness.
Please get in touch with on the mend, if you would like to support their project by visiting their
website and following them on
Facebook and
Instagram.
How have you dealt with loneliness? Have you sent or received postcards or letters from a friend or relative recently?
