Community Circles: The lockdown lifesavers connecting hundreds across Lancashire

Thankfully, Community Circles has adapted, taking its mantra of support online and quickly becoming a lifeline for countless people looking to maintain those vastly important social ties to the outside world.

Community Circles was founded in the late ‘90s to highlight the efficacy of support circles in helping people to make positive changes in their lives. Regardless of whether people were looking to socialise more with family and friends or try new hobbies, having a unique support network helping them meant that change wasn’t just a conversation, it was an action.

Going a step further, a partnership between Community Circles, Wellbeing Teams, and HMR Circle and funded by The Big Lottery produced the Circle Family initiative. Allowing those over the age of 50 to come together along similar lines of interest through a membership programme of monthly community events, it creates the conditions for friendship and mutual support.

Very simply, it has been described as ‘where community connecting meets social action and mutual support’.

Each Circle Family is facilitated by a Community Connector but, with their raft of events - normally incorporating everything from coffee mornings, trips, and taster sessions to come dine with me nights and projects - interrupted, the connectors had to adapt quickly, launching the Circles Connected Facebook group.

“Circle Family keeps people connected and stops people feeling lonely; we’d got quite a few groups going before the pandemic hit, so there was a moment of ‘oh my God, what do we do?’” says Community Circles Connector Cath Barton. “We were really mindful of the people we work with and so decided to put a hold on the face-to-face groups.

“But then it was very much a question of what we were going to do given that we’re all about connecting people and that’s precisely what we couldn’t do.

“It was Becky, one of our Community Connectors, who said we should move everything to Facebook, and so we started off with a reading group, quizzes, and other things we knew members were interested in,” adds Cath, 49. “Then we started asking members what they fancied - the groups are always led by members, so this was no different.

“It’s all about being responsive.”

Designed to help people stay connected and entertained from the comfort of their own homes, the group is tailored to the members’ interests. So far, Becky’s cocktail masterclasses, knitting, reminiscing, mindfulness, yoga, guitar lessons, and book clubs have all proved popular, making the group an invaluable tool for people to keep boredom at bay and stay social.

“We’ve had a really good response and when we get back to face-to-face stuff, we’ll still keep an online offer as well as it’s given us the chance to connect with a wider range of people; we’ve had people joining in from as far as New Zealand,” says Cath. “One lady got in touch to say it was a real godsend and that it’d kept her going as she lives alone. When you hear things like that, it’s just so lovely.

“The group is open to everyone,” explains Cath, who is from Blackburn. “It’s been really great for people to stay connected; it’s a real outlet and everybody has something to contribute irrespective of age, disability, or anything else. Looking ahead to the future, we want to widen the community even more.

“It’s a really strong community as it’s based on shared interests,” Cath adds. “And that brings really positive mental health benefits, too.

“It’s just been great.”