‘We can all create connections, find common interests, and form friendships, by taking the time to start a conversation’

• ONE demographic not especially featured in your excellent coverage of the issue of loneliness, August 4, was disabled people.

In 2017 the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness found that half of disabled people had experienced loneliness. But research in 2021 revealed that this had risen to almost two-thirds of disabled people and, alarmingly, to seven in 10 of young disabled people.

The research undertaken on behalf of the commission also revealed the need for accessible transport, streets and buildings, financial support, and appropriate social care.

But public attitudes also play a part in the risk of loneliness for people with a disability. Increasing awareness of different conditions and battling misconceptions about disability are both important steps to help reduce loneliness among disabled people.

The late Jo Cox MP, who set up the commission shortly before her death in summer 2016, strongly believed that we have far more in common than that which divides us. To help fight loneliness, it is vital that we all focus on our similarities rather than our differences.

We can all create connections, find common interests, and form friendships, by taking the time to start a conversation.

ROSEMARY NICHOLSON
Visually Impaired in Camden