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Civil society and loneliness minister Baroness Barran had nearly two decades of experience in the charity sector before joining the Lords. She talks t.
Covid-19: UK s minister for loneliness funds new plans to tackle isolation
Prasun Sonwalkar/London
Alamy
British government allocates Dh20.53m for series of projects to help bonding.
Diana Barran, who is the third minister for loneliness in the United Kingdom (UK) since the portfolio was carved out in January 2018, has allocated £4 million (m) (Dh20.53m) to tackle the modern scourge of isolation and loneliness, as Covid-10 restrictions ease following a considerable decline in new viral infections.
The Boris Johnson government said on Saturday that the fund would support a series of projects to bring people together.
Officials said the amount would be shared among charity and community groups and grassroots organisations involved in tackling social isolation. Projects across England, include songwriting workshops in Devon, dance classes in Bedfordshire, and online chat services in Durham, are in the works.
Alongside quarantines, social distancing, and the never-ending torture of working from home, loneliness has been exacerbated by the shutdown of public institutions, the rising death toll of people’s loved ones, and mass redundancies. This is all against the age old backdrop of insecure housing, a broken mental health system, a corrupt Tory government, and rising xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic hate crimes – the list goes on.
In an attempt to tackle the increasing crisis of loneliness, in 2018, the government appointed the world’s first ever Minister for Loneliness, following the findings of Jo Cox’s Loneliness Commission Report. Since its establishment, the role has been held by Conservatives Tracey Crouch, Mims Davies, and now House of Lords member Diana Barran.