Staff and volunteers at Fordhall Organic Farm are donning yellow socks to help raise awareness of youth loneliness. The initiative by the Market Drayton farm is in support of the UK-wide Lonely Not Alone campaign.
Staff and key farms projects, such as the youth project, care farm, volunteer sessions and the Afternoon Amble (a free community weekly walk and craft session to tackle isolation) will be jazzing up their outfits with bright yellow socks.
Lonely Not Alone asks everyone to show they care about youth loneliness by wearing yellow socks and sharing their ‘Outfit of the Day’ on social media with #OOTDYellowSocks. Young people who made the campaign say yellow socks are their symbol of solidarity when they feel lonely.
Co-op’s charity, the Co-op Foundation, has released UK-wide research in support of the campaign that reveals seven in 10 young people say they are lonely at least occasionally.
“The youth volunteering days and events we offer here at Fordhall Farm is one way we try and reduce isolation and loneliness that young people may experience in Shropshire. We encourage young people to come and socialise with people they have never met as well as learn new skills,” says Senior Youth Worker Wendy Murray.
“Youth loneliness is continually increasing and the current pandemic has stressed this even more. The increase in social media and on-line gaming has led to a rise in physical isolation from peers now more than ever. We believe in encouraging young people to interact face to face with others to generate positive feelings of inclusion and acceptance rather than loneliness and isolation. We are proud to support this initiative and hope many others will join us.”
Lonely Not Alone is funded by the Co-op Foundation which helps people challenge inequality and co-operate for change, so they can share a fairer future.
Visit www.lonelynotalone.org and www.fordhallfarm.com for more information.
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