Published on: Monday 13th May 2019

A campaign which aims to combat loneliness across West Yorkshire and Harrogate has inspired hundreds of people across the area to take conscious steps to look out for those around them.

Among them is Verity Park-Poulson, pictured far left, who works for mental health charity Turning Point UK and is a member of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance community/patient panel.

The ‘Looking out for our neighbours’ campaign, commissioned by West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, launched last month with the aim of helping to prevent loneliness and improve the wellbeing of residents in the area.

Coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Week, people across West Yorkshire and Harrogate have shared their stories of how the movement has inspired them and those around them to make a positive difference in their local community.

Professor Sean Duffy, Clinical Lead for the WYH Cancer Alliance:

“So many people affected by cancer tell us that they feel lonely and isolated, after their diagnosis, during treatment and after their treatment ends. The support of family, friends and others around them plays such a vital role in their recovery and well-being. Imagine how much worse those feelings can be without that support network.

“Just a friendly face, a chat, an offer to help, just making time to care, can make all the difference to someone who is alone, who is lonely, who is vulnerable, living with or beyond their cancer diagnosis.

“That’s why the Cancer Alliance is backing this important campaign launched by our colleagues in the Health and Care Partnership."

Verity joined our patient panel to bring her expertise in talking therapies, and her family experience of cancer, to help others and to gain further insight about the needs of cancer patients. Read her story here http://bit.ly/2Vy

Click here to watch the video about how people have been engaging with the campaign and Looking Out For Their Neighbours.