TALK LISTEN CONNECT - Reducing loneliness & supporting people who are grieving

Talk Listen Connect is our new national campaign tackling loneliness and the impact of grief.  The Talk Listen Connect (TLC) movement is something anyone can be part of.  It involves taking part in a short workshop, receiving a badge and then wearing this when out and about. The badge indicates that someone is happy to take the time to chat.

Talk, Listen, Connect workshops are about enhancing everybody's skills in community connection; having meaningful conversations in a safe space.  These conversations are about giving time to truly listen, understand and where appropriate connect people further into their community.  

Research tell us that the need for creating more social connection is a growing challenge. When one person dies, 9 are impacted by grief, more people are being diagnosed with cancer and dementia, most adults don't know what to say when someone is grieving and loneliness is being described as an epidemic.  The pandemic made all of this worse.  However, the public response gave us hope that we can change this.

Most of us want to 'fix' or 'solve' the emotional pain people experience and often feel uncomfortable, worrying about saying the wrong thing whilst desperately wanting to help.  

We deliver a short workshop that brings different people together to share their knowledge of the local treasures within their communities, including their own skills and those of other people they know. The workshop also includes how to support people when they are grieving.  The workshops leave people feeling more confident in supporting others.  For example, we have been working with a group of local cafes to enhance their staffs' abilities to support their customers/community better.  

We currently deliver the TLC workshops face to face and online in live groups. Your charitable donation will support us to reach everyone via the ability to deliver more workshops and the production of a digital self-learning film.  This means that people who wouldn't normally attend group learning can still join the TLC movement.   In addition by supporting us, you will be helping us to develop our TLC website, creating a hub of community resources, a quarterly connectors 'movement' for sharing ideas and enhancing knowledge on key social issues that the TLC movement may hear about during their conversations, such as dementia, diagnosis of a terminal illness and other forms of loss.  

People tell us that life's toughest challenges can be really isolating.  In one story, a person's friends crossed the road as they didn't know what to say when the their husband had died.  In another experience, someone felt overwhelmed juggling everything when their relative was dying and all they needed was for someone to cook the dinner and leave it on the doorstep.

Culturally we've lost the ability to know how to support, how to listen and the practical ways we can show we care.  TLC aims to challenge this - grow confidence, tackle the taboos around talking about death, dying and loss and stop the loneliness that so many people feel.

This movement will provide new perspectives, opportunities, and connections that can enrich lives and improve health in ways never imagined. Talk, Listen, Connect will create healthier, happier and connected communities.

Please contact us if you would like to learn more about the course:  [email protected]