Loneliness

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 17 May 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:08, 17 May 2022

I thank Mike Hedges very much. The picture, I think, is a mixed one, isn't it? Many things have changed over the period since the second world war. Some of those things make loneliness and isolation more difficult, some things have eroded those factors as well. I think I remember telling the story on the floor of the Senedd once of my mother telling me that, in 1946, her friend had gone from St Clears to work in Carmarthen, 9 miles away, and she had a board in Carmarthen, because, in 1946, you couldn't travel those 9 miles on a daily basis. Now, you can speak to your relations in Australia on a Zoom call without it being difficult for anybody. So, while some things have got more difficult, other forms of communication have eroded the difficulties of loneliness and isolation, and there are important lessons for us to learn. 

The Men's Sheds initiative is one of those examples, originated, of course, in Australia. I know that Mike Hedges will be aware of the support that Swansea council, for example, has given to seven different Men's Sheds initiatives, using funds provided to the council by the Welsh Government, two of those in Clydach and Ynystawe in the Member's own constituency. They are only two examples of that initiative, which is to be found in all parts of Wales. Mike Hedges is right, of course, Llywydd; in Denbighshire, for example, funds from the Welsh Government have been used directly for Women's Sheds organisations, as well as Men's Sheds. Making sure that those possibilities are equally available to all our citizens is an important part of eroding loneliness and isolation across the whole of the population.