Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Loneliness and isolation might have been seen as a peripheral subject a few years ago, and I am pleased that we have prioritised it in the health committee and that there is growing public awareness of the damage loneliness can do to our health. We are all becoming familiar with the public health impact of loneliness and isolation such as the often-quoted statistic that it can be as damaging for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. But, I wanted to focus my remarks today on the fact that loneliness and isolation are a significant risk factor for suicide.

When Samaritans Cymru gave evidence to the committee, they said that they wanted to move the actions that are taken to tackle loneliness into a much more serious space, and I believe that is crucial, because tackling loneliness and isolation saves lives. Yesterday, I, along with other Members, attended the launch of the Samaritans Cymru report on socioeconomic disadvantage and suicidal behaviour in Wales. The report makes 10 concrete recommendations on how Wales can reduce the number of suicides. I could spend at least five minutes talking about each one, and I hope that Members will pursue the recommendations in this excellent report in the months ahead. But, as I have only five minutes, I wanted to highlight one message from the report—that community groups should be seen as a form of prevention and early intervention for loneliness, isolation and social support in Wales, and that policy solutions should be worked up to increase community participation. Being connected to others saves lives.

I really welcome the Welsh Government's commitment to tackling loneliness as a national priority, but we now need to see that translated into real action. Some Government policies in recent years have been going in a different direction. The Communities First programme was raised with the committee in evidence. Often criticised for fostering softer initiatives rather than hard-edged employment-focused ones, it is often those kinds of projects that are essential in delivering the connectedness that is so vital in tackling isolation. In September, for example, I attended the Gofal Gwent service user forum, and I met service users there with serious mental health problems, who told me that they wouldn't have been able to leave the house without the support of their local Men's Sheds group, previously funded by Communities First.  

I was grateful to Rebecca Evans as the previous Minister for her engagement with me about the threat to funding for Let's Walk Cymru. I know that she understood, as I do, that such groups are not just about physical health. For many of the walkers in my constituency, Let's Walk has been a vital way to tackle loneliness, often after the loss of a spouse. I'm delighted that the funding has been continued, but it should not have been under threat. We must make sure that our commitment to tackling loneliness cuts across Welsh Government policies.

On Friday, a lady came to my surgery who was deeply worried that the pressures on adult education funding had led to charges being introduced for people who were on benefits to attend her local art class, some of whom had disabilities. Again, for some of those people, that art class is a lifeline. Now, we all understand the massive financial pressures we face, but we need to view these decisions on an invest-to-save basis. The costs of social isolation and, indeed, suicide are much, much higher. We have to match our rhetoric on prevention with action.

I wanted to conclude by talking about young people. There is a perception that loneliness and isolation is mainly a problem for older people. It is not. Samaritans Cymru told us of a Mental Health Foundation survey that found that 18 to 34-year-olds are more likely to feel lonely often, to worry about feeling alone and to feel depressed about loneliness than the over-55s. They told us that there is increasing evidence that social media may be causing loneliness and depression in teenagers, and that a recent study on using social media for two hours a day doubled the chance of a person experiencing social isolation. The Children's Commissioner for England recently published a report into social media use by 8 to 12-year-olds called 'Life in Likes', which found that even very young children are becoming overdependent on likes and comments for social validation. It is impacting on their mental health, and that has also been a strong message in our committee inquiry into the emotional and mental health of children and young people in Wales.

This matters, not just because we want our young people to have good mental health, but because young people are a high-risk group for suicide. It is a national scandal that four schoolchildren die by suicide every week in the UK. Papyrus, the prevention of young suicide charity, as part of their campaign to reduce the number of suicides among schoolchildren, called Save the Class of 2018, have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the impact of negative social media on our young people. They have produced a very hard-hitting film called Bedtime Stories, which encourages us all to be aware of the impact of social media. I would encourage everyone here, especially those of us who are parents, to watch it. Thank you.