Finding connection in community and building solutions to loneliness: Brighton Women’s Centre

To round of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week we spoke to two community efforts who are using their own unique methods to bring people together, encourage new experiences and to fight loneliness. It can be really hard to admit when we’re feeling lonely, and the longer loneliness persists the more likely we are to experience negative mental health effects. We spoke to The Grow Project and Brighton Women’s Centre about how nature and specialist support groups are vital in the solution to loneliness. 

Written by Bryony Porteous-Sebouhian

How do we address loneliness?

When considering a positive way to round of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week we asked ourselves: what is an actionable solution to loneliness that is happening in every city across the UK? Community projects ran by local charities, organisations and volunteers are a widespread way that people on the ground have been working to fight loneliness for decades.

When waiting lists for NHS mental health services are years long and private therapy is out of the question, many of us turn to our local charities for support, advice and community.

From peer support groups to workshops that provide a neutral space, where people can come together and have the freedom to choose whether or not to talk about their problems, wellbeing and mental health provision that is open to the community (and often free or based on sliding scale), is an essential part of addressing not only loneliness, but also the current mental health crisis.

Brighton Women’s Centre

Brighton Women’s Centre (BWC), one of the longest standing women’s centres in the country, has been supporting any self-identifying women in Brighton and Sussex – and more recently expanding into Kent too – for over 45 years.

BWC pride themselves in providing help and support to women from all backgrounds. Some of the difficulties BWC help women with include bereavement, trauma, homelessness, going through the criminal justice system, abuse and discrimination.

“Shouldering a sense of stigma and shame can often lead women to withdraw from others.”

We caught up with Jane Moore, who is BWC’s Peer to Peer Service Manager. To start, we asked Jane about why it is so essential to provide safe, specialist community spaces and projects for women, she said: “The women we support require safety as a pre-requisite – only when they feel safe can they begin to rebuild relationships and begin the process toward empowerment and independence.”

“Having an accessible and trusted organisation carve out a trauma informed space provides a chance for women to realise they aren’t alone. Loneliness cannot be separated from other factors in life, so a holistic approach is crucial also.”

The BWC is currently in the process of opening up again for in person delivery of services. In person services, Jane said, can provide a trauma informed environment, that is “welcoming, open, and supportive” which ultimately “nurtures a peers’ sense of safety in her community”.

Addressing this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week theme: loneliness, Jane spoke to how loneliness and mental-ill health are connected for women:

“We know loneliness exacerbates mental distress and physical decline and vica versa. Women who live alone, have greater social deprivation and physical and mental ill health are more likely to experience loneliness – this is exactly the women we engage with.”

Jane also emphasised how loneliness and isolation is “also a psychological and physiological response to trauma”. This is why, Jane said, it is so essential to provide a trauma informed space as well as psychoeducation, so that women can not only feel understood but also understand themselves.

The BWC have ran a huge range of workshops, activities, discussion sessions and experiences as part of their Peer to Peer (P2P) Support Service. We asked Jane about some of her fondest memories of these, and some personal favourites. Jane recollected a visit to the sea:

“…We went in the sea – in whatever we were wearing (or left on). It was a beautiful sunny day and we were sitting by the sea exploring the topic of letting go. It was spontaneous and full of laughter.”

Another time Jane recalled was from remote meetings:

“We were meeting online, and we created an ‘altar’ of what was meaningful and special in our lives, what provided succour in challenging times, and then shared these using our device cameras. There were some truly amazing set ups.”

As well as these more distinct memories Jane listed, grounding sessions that involved drawing mandalas, sharing favourite songs, face masks, creating self-soothing boxes, writing poems, discussing negative thoughts and gratitude, going for walks, picnics, café meetups, courses on self-kindness, self-esteem workshops and food and mood cooking afternoons.

As we mentioned above, community projects are and have always been important in meeting the demand for mental health and wellbeing support, on this, Jane said:

“Community services are vital. A direct and local delivery can adapt to community needs – there’s an agility that is baked in especially when services are co-designed and co-produced.”

“BWC works closely with our local community including women and girls networks, our community organisational partners, the wider support services across the region and of course individuals who form that community.”

Going back to the BWC P2P group, Jane said:

“It is the peers’ group and with their engagement we create nodes of connection across the community – the shared exchange of what else is out there, the support in trying new things. By being a conduit between a women’s needs and her interests she has support in taking the next steps towards wider community engagement, including volunteering, education and employment.”

Finally, Jane left us with some final thoughts about loneliness and how she has seen people fight the stigma around it:

“Combatting loneliness is about building relationships, this takes care curiosity and compassion – and consequently time. Building back a belief that a woman matters to others (and to herself) also means supporting her wider needs outside the group.”

“Investing in quality approaches and providing individualised wrap around support help tease apart some of the barriers to social connection.”

“In providing a unique space to share sensitive and often unspoken suffering the service helps makes sense of things. In return this helps foster greater resilience in coping with future challenges. With a gentle and non-judgemental approach, we can assist women recognise the strength and assets she already has. We can walk some of the way back to a more fulfilled life alongside her.”

To read about Brighton Women’s Centre, their programmes, support and workshops, read more here. To find out more about their Peer to Peer Support Service specifically, you can find out more info here.

This blog is the first in a two part series to round off Mental Health Awareness Week, where we look at two local Sussex community projects that are helping to tackle loneliness in unique ways.