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<p>Many people experience loneliness and social isolation, and the Government is committed
to reducing the stigma associated with loneliness, and building a more connected society.
Government, local councils, health systems and voluntary and community sector organisations
all have an important role to play in achieving this.</p><p>Since publishing the first
ever government Strategy for Tackling Loneliness and appointing the world’s first
Minister for Loneliness in 2018, we have invested almost £80 million in tackling loneliness.
These interventions include a national communications campaign that aims to reduce
the stigma of loneliness, which has reached at least 25 million people across the
country. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is also delivering the ‘Know
Your Neighbourhood Fund’ to boost volunteering and reduce loneliness in 27 disadvantaged
areas across England. We have also brought together over 750 people from across the
public, private and charity sectors through our Tackling Loneliness Hub, where members
can learn from events and workshops, share the latest research and collaborate on
new initiatives.</p><p>Last March, we published the fourth annual report of our Tackling
Loneliness Strategy. It contains over 60 new and ongoing commitments from 11 government
departments. So far, we have made progress against at least 46 of these commitments
and at least 7 have been completed. Due to the nature of the commitments many have
now been incorporated into business as usual. The fifth annual report will provide
a full update on commitments, and is due to be published in May.</p>
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