Inside the new girls club tackling Scotland's ‘loneliness epidemic' – and how to get involved
A NEW loneliness epidemic is hitting Scotland - in young women.
Stats have shown that nearly half of all females aged 18-24 reported feeling alone at some point last year.
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While the advancement of tech has made our lives better in some ways, experts fear it is also making us less connected - and young women suffer as friendships grow apart and they have families.
Now an innovative group has created the Pal Project - a series of monthly events to help like-minded Scots get together and form connections.
Laura Maginess, Director of the Glasgow Girls Club which runs the scheme, said the response has been amazing, which speaks volumes about the spread of loneliness.
And she said we all have a responsibility to make sure no one feels isolated.
LONELINESS is often thought of as something that only affects older people – those whose social circles have changed over time, or who might face challenges like reduced mobility, health issues or financial constraints that make getting out and about a bit harder.
But the truth is, loneliness doesn't care about age – it can show up for any of us, at any stage of life.
Nowadays, a new group has the misfortune of being the loneliest in the country - and that's young adults.
Not only that, but research shows that women are disproportionately impacted by persistent loneliness.
In fact, a study last year by the Belonging Forum found that nearly half of women aged 18-24 in the UK reported feeling lonely.
It is also probably not a surprise that life satisfaction among young women is also declining.
Love Island star breaks down in tears and admits she's lonely and can't make friends
I'm seeing this first-hand in my community The Glasglow Girls Club (GGC) - a Facebook group of almost 50,000 women, where we offer online and in-person support, friendship and advice.
Every week we see messages into the group from ladies in their 20s and 30s who admit to being lonely, and who desperately want more social interaction and friendship.
We hear a range of reasons for this - friendship groups that have grown apart, women with families who've had less time to nurture and maintain friendships, ladies who have recently moved to the area, those who've gone through a break-up and lost friends, and many more.
In theory, we're better connected than ever through technology, yet in reality we're arguably the loneliest we've ever been. There's a huge disconnect that needs to be addressed.
And that's exactly why we started the Pal Project. Earlier this year, we began hosting monthly, low-cost, low-pressure get-togethers in Glasgow - created specifically for women who want to come along (often solo) to events designed to spark new friendships, offer a warm and welcoming vibe and create shared experiences that feel easy and natural.
The response has been amazing - there's clearly a need.
But here's the paradox we keep coming up against: so many women want meaningful connection yet often struggle to find the confidence to step outside their comfort zone and attend the very events that could help them find it.
That's why we place a strong emphasis on the activities at the events - whether that's creating a vision board, doing an art project, learning about a particular subject - and the friendships follow.
But what's needed on an even bigger scale to combat this loneliness epidemic?
Firstly, awareness is important - we make too many assumptions that women in their 20s and 30s are having the time of their lives, surrounded by friends and with hardly a spare minute in their social calendar. What we are learning is that nothing could be further from the truth.
We need to look out for each other, notice the signs of loneliness and support others where we can. As women, we also need to try to ask for help and support if we feel lonely, as hard as it may feel. It's so worth it, because there are groups, communities, resources out there that can help.
And, most importantly, we know now there are also many others out there who are experiencing the same challenges. Together we can help each other.
We're also seeing very clearly that loneliness is a huge issue for female entrepreneurs - a recent report by Positive Entrepreneurship found that 66 per cent of female founders said they experienced extreme isolation.
It's been clear to me for a while that lots of business owners feel like this, but there's a real shame in saying it out loud, especially at a time when people see fully remote working as the dream, ignoring the fact that, as humans, we crave connection and thrive on it.
This is something we've long worked hard to combat within the Glow Business Members Club, the business community within the GGC, where our members can meet in-person regularly, learn and support each other through virtual events and share daily the ups and downs of being a female founder.
So let's not leave women in the lurch like this and let's not sleepwalk into a loneliness pandemic. Collectively let's bring people together whenever we can, and be the pals that we all need.
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