Youth Loneliness project off to strong start

'Boba' events bring young folk together to burst the bubble of youth loneliness

 A series of pop-up ‘bubble teas’ devised by young people to help tackle youth loneliness is off to a strong start, with over 50 young people attending the first event in Firth last month.

A second took place in Hoy at YM Community Hall on Sunday 18 February, where anyone aged 12-25 were free to pop along to enjoy some free ‘Boba’ (bubble tea) and activities with others. 

Two more pop-ups are planned for March: 

• Sunday 3 March at the Burray Hall from 12-3pm 
• Saturday 16 March at Westray Hofn Centre from 2-4pm  

 The pop-ups are supported by Young Scot and Orkney Islands Council’s Youth Services team, and are absolutely free and open to anyone aged 12-25. Importantly, the events are also aimed at gathering information about how young folk experience loneliness in the county. 

The first pop-up in Firth was welcomed by the young people who attended, who reported enjoying getting out of the house, catching up with friends, meeting new people and enjoying something new. 

They also suggested some activities they’d love to see available in Orkney in future, such as bowling, a go-kart track, archery club, rollerblading and more places to hang out.

Karen Bevan, Youth and Family Learning Worker from the Council’s Community, Learning and Development and Employability Service has been supporting a group of children and young people as they explore what youth loneliness looks like in Orkney, and what can be done to address it.

She says comments received at the first pop-up about what loneliness means to young people demonstrated there is a real need to tackle it and create opportunities for young people to develop connections with others their age:

“Young people told us loneliness is lack of companionship and friends, having no-one they feel they can talk to and just hang out with, feeling alone and ‘having a broken heart’.

“We know Orkney’s young people face challenges that peers in other regions don’t such as rural isolation, fewer options for entertainment and scattered public transport.

“But it’s extremely moving to see these comments come back.

“It just adds fire to the bellies of the young people on this project, to keep working to alleviate loneliness and tackle the stigma of speaking up about individual struggles.”

Funded by the Co-op Foundation, the young people are part of a Young Scot project group working together to find a solution to the issues of loneliness and isolation they identified. The group, who planned and designed the series of, ‘Pop-up Boba Cafes’ starting in January 2024 for young folk aged 12-25, will also test the success of the events in alleviating the impact of loneliness. 

Watch this space for future events.

Notes on the impact and causes of loneliness from Youth Scotland:

The Office for National Statistics in 2018 found that 9.8% of 16 – 24 year olds, and 11.3% of 10 – 15 year olds, said that they were “often lonely”.

The Loneliness Experiment conducted by the BBC found that 40% of 16 – 24 year-olds said they feel lonely ‘often’ or ‘very often’

The impacts of loneliness are staggering. Loneliness can contribute to stress, anxiety, depression, paranoia and cognitive decline – and it can be both a cause and effect of other mental health problems.

The Mental Health Foundation found in 2018 that:

• more than half of 18-24 year olds experience depression when they feel lonely
• 42% said it leads to anxiety
• 67% said their mental health worsens as a result of feeling lonely

The research also found that the stigma of loneliness remains the greatest barrier to getting help:

• 46% saying they would be too embarrassed to talk about it
• 52% feel they ought to cope with the problem themselves

A State of the Generation Report by the Mental Health Foundation found some of the reasons that young people report loneliness or poor mental health are their living situation (29%), lack of companionship (27%), or lack of a trusted adult for advice or support with problems (20%).

Other factors include:

• being bullied
• finding it hard to make friends
• moving house, schools, university or job
• losing someone close to you
• having an illness or disability
• the ending of a relationship or friendship.
• Research by LGBT Youth Scotland found that 71% of LGBT young people experienced bullying in school on the grounds of being LGBT.

Research by the Mental Health Foundation found in 2018 that 30% of 18-24 year olds say social media is driving them to feel socially isolated.

For more information, visit www.young.scot/get-informed/stats-and-facts-about-youth-loneliness