I'm grateful to speak today on this crucial issue, following our committee report launch at Horton's Coffee House in Newport. Loneliness and social isolation is one of the defining issues of our time, an epidemic affecting all ages in all parts of our communities.

The impact of social isolation is alarming: 75,000 people in Wales report always or often feeling lonely; loneliness can be as damaging to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day; it can be as risky as obesity; and it can affect anyone at any time in our lives. While these worrying statistics go a long way to show how significant the problem of loneliness is, I think it's the human stories that have really driven home the need for something to be done. Throughout our inquiry, we certainly heard those voices loud and clear. One particular story comes to my mind, which a GP shared with me. She'd been treating an elderly patient who was recovering after coming out of hospital. She had been visiting the patient once a week, and after a few weeks of regular visits, she told the woman that she had made a full recovery and no longer needed to regularly see the doctor. The woman was visibly upset to find this out. She didn't want the visits to end because the GP and the district nurses were the only people she saw from week to week. We heard other similar examples of the serious impact of social isolation and loneliness.

We know that any of us can become isolated or lonely as we grow older for many reasons, often beyond our control. Loneliness and isolation are both a cause and a consequence of problems with mental health and one that often fails to be addressed due to the stigma surrounding it. In fact, as Lynne Neagle mentioned, the report launched by the Samaritans yesterday highlighted loneliness and isolation as a risk factor for suicide.

Recommendation 6 states how vital it is that we end the stigma surrounding loneliness. Raising awareness should be the first step in tackling the issue itself. Many people don't want to be tagged with the word 'lonely', and factors can mask a root cause. We can see from our engagement throughout our inquiry that there is a significant will and essential need to tackle this problem.

Our inquiry found that much good work is already being done across Wales. We heard from many organisations throughout the consultation, and I hosted a round-table discussion with Age UK in my constituency last summer to share examples of projects that are tackling loneliness and to see how best practice can be spread.

In recommendation 4, we made clear the need for Welsh Government to work with the voluntary sector to provide stability for the services that so many depend on. So much of this work is done by volunteers. One excellent example is Ffrind i Mi. It's a service in Aneurin Bevan health board led by divisional nurse Tanya Strange, who really is a force of nature. It aims to tackle loneliness and isolation by matching volunteers to people based on their hobbies and interests. The idea is to say, 'Let me introduce you to a friend of mine.'

Ada is a prime example. Ada is 93 and became lonely and isolated after her husband died. She'd been a carer for her husband who had dementia for over 10 years and, like so many others, the commitment of caring meant that she had lost touch with her close friends. When her husband died, she found herself feeling isolated and alone. Ada was referred to Ffrind i Mi, and it helped her so much that Ada is now a volunteer, helping others who feel so isolated and lonely. She meets another woman every week for a coffee and a chat in Newport city centre, and both reap the benefits of their new friendship.

The issue does not only affect our elderly, as other Members have said. Our report is wide reaching, but doesn't even scratch the surface when it comes to loneliness amongst young people, veterans, new mothers, BME groups and the LGBT community amongst others. I was shocked when I attended the Ffrind i Mi launch to recognise a face in the video. Rob Wiltshire was two years younger than me at school and had gone on to join the army. Now a veteran in his 30s, he felt so far removed from his support network on his return to the UK that he battled with feelings of isolation and loneliness. He found Ffrind i Mi and has gone from strength to strength. But while schemes like this make an invaluable contribution to the lives of people like Ada and Rob, we need to plan for the future and take a more holistic approach to dealing with loneliness and isolation, which is highlighted in our recommendation 2, and this is vital.

Another Newport resident, Carol Beaumont, said at our inquiry launch how important it is to be able to know about services easily, for example, through community connectors, and we need to use the rich resources that we already have in our communities and ensure that information is available and accessible for people wherever they may need it. We have a proud history of community in Wales, and we know that we have the highest proportion of older people in the UK. It's a public health issue that must be a national priority, and it needs to start now. Tackling it will not only improve people's lives, but it will help reduce demands for health and social services.