loneliness
I long for a Church where the person who has never felt comfortable in church, the teenager questioning where they fit, the older person living with loneliness, the person struggling financially, the person with a disability and the person who believes they have been excluded from God’s table can all hear the same message: You are welcome.
I was not suprised to hear at the recent Save the Parish conference that a third of incumbents show symptoms of depression and forty percent report chronic loneliness.
I’ve worked closely with church members to introduce a number of church-led activities over the years to help to tackle loneliness in our small rural community and to give people the opportunity to ask questions about the Christian faith, such as the reintroduction of regular coffee mornings at church.
The affirmation of the current members of each church. (integration of all members into a small group for pastoral care, to avoid loneliness and isolation.) 2.
I bring 35 years of international business leadership, most recently as Vice President, Business Integration & HSSE for Shell's Renewables and Energy Solutions business, building safety, culture and integration across more than 50 companies I was the lead Sunday School teacher in Gatehouse of Fleet Parish Church in Scotland for 4 years I work as an independent consultant, advising organisations on transformation, sustainability and change management I recently stepped down as Chair of the Advisory Board of Nandina REM, a start-up building circular, lower-carbon supply chains for the aviation industry, based in Singapore I served for 3 years as President of Shell's UK Women's Network, leading its work to champion inclusion and the advancement of women across one of the world's largest energy companies, and grew its membership from fewer than 500 to more than 1,500 women and men I mentored colleagues through Shell's LGBTI Network and Black African Network I volunteer as a mentor and coach to young people, lately through Education for All in Morocco, helping secure secondary education for girls in rural areas, who until recently did not have this opportunity At St George's, Madrid, I am part of the relaunch of the church's Pastoral Care programme, building a small team to extend welcome and support to members facing illness, hardship or loneliness, including those who live far from the church I am a member of St George's Chaplaincy Council and one of the Archdeaconry Synod Representatives, where my passion is ensuring the welcome and inclusion of everyone who worships at our church in Madrid I am also working with our Chaplain to help lead our new work with young teens My faith has been a constant thread through my life, from an early age.
As a passionate advocate of inclusivity and justice, I feel I could bring a grassroots perspective to the issues of social deprivation, multiculturalism, loneliness, disability and environmental issues, all coming from a pastoral heart not just a ‘collection’ of issues.
05 MISSION The church has a vital role to play in supporting everyone who faces challenges in our parishes, including loneliness, disability, disadvantage, the cost of living and lack of empowerment.
Loneliness, families under strain, young people growing up with less belonging than those who came before them: these are exactly the things that our church, and our God, can help to answer; to give them the same place to stand that the church gave me.
In addition, parish churches address loneliness, support food banks, and restore relationships.
I love being alongside people through the many seasons of life sharing in their joy and celebration, but also walking with them through grief, illness, uncertainty, loneliness and loss.
so I will also support efforts to reduce the epidemic of loneliness, social isolation and existential distress prevalent in so many of our young people and congregations, help parishes to meet their environmental objectives whilst fully recognising the unique challenges they face with their historic buildings, and would also, I hope, contribute to important debates on social and biomedical ethics including those around poverty and exclusion, racial justice, Al, assisted dying, genetic modification, gender identity, spiritual abuse and climate change amongst so many others, so please do consider voting for me.
Although our communities can appear prosperous, rural poverty, domestic abuse, loneliness and isolation are often hidden, while poor transport and digital connectivity create real inequalities of access.
• New Bridge Foundation – I am a Group Leader tackling loneliness and isolation in
Churches are essential to connecting with people and solving many of our societal issues today including loneliness, financial pressures, food insecurity, racial injustice, mental health challenges, abuse and more.
Nearly a third report symptoms of depression, and even more report loneliness and a sense that they are not helped by leadership.
I love learning foreign languages, going for walks on the South Downs with my dog and gardening. ● I worked in Human Resources in a global Investment Bank for almost 20 years - my last role was Managing Director, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion. ● I completed a 2-year Psychodynamic Counselling Skills course with the Westminster Pastoral Foundation and more recently an Anna Chaplaincy course. ● I am a volunteer befriender with “Linking Lives” - a Christian organisation seeking to reduce loneliness. ● I am a member of Together for the Church of England. ● I am co-chair of the Sabeel Kairos Church of England group. ● I am currently studying ‘Biblical Studies' at St Augustine’s College of Theology.
I am therefore naturally aligned with Save the Parish. ● Clergy Well Being: Having several members of clergy in my family, I know the particular strains, stresses and loneliness that can accompany clergy life.
More widely, I also facilitate a Women’s Fellowship group which includes those with lived experiences of domestic abuse, disability and loneliness.
I want us to be particularly attentive to children and young adults, many of whom are facing anxiety, loneliness, poor mental health and uncertainty about their future.
I co-founded Love Your Neighbour, a charity which brings together churches and organisations to tackle poverty, debt, addiction, unemployment, homelessness and loneliness.
Within my own life and ministry, I have had periods of depression which have been exacerbated by the loneliness and isolation of the role.
How can it be right that about 30% of clergy suffer from depression and 40% from chronic loneliness?
Having clergy in every parish is needed more than ever with increases in loneliness through more single living, social media and working from home combined with cost of living pressures.
It is the common table where we can gather to counter hunger, loneliness and confusion.
Poverty, loneliness, isolation and lack of services can be hidden in communities that look very different from the outside.
Large rural benefices, combining a dozen or more widely spread parishes are a recipe for loneliness, depression and burnout if the only ministry resource is a single priest.
better support families facing financial hardship, caring responsibilities and loneliness;
I have a keen interest in community and rural affairs, particularly loneliness and mental health issues which can result from isolation.
It is open to everyone and we would like to encourage more to join us. Loneliness is an issue that affects the whole country and we need to be more inclusive of people of all faiths and none. The other day I witnessed a rough sleeper coming into the St Edward’s community hall, a regular I believe, he has a dog, and that seemed to be the only thing people were interested in and commented on, they asked his name, “Atlas” but nobody, asked who he was or what his name is.
They want the Church to be a community of ‘missionary disciples’, to be ‘younger and more diverse’ and to operate on a ‘mixed ecology’ basis, comprising parishes, chaplaincies, digital and fresh expressions– as we adapt to new ways of being and doing Church to reach out to our neighbours and communities with the Good News of the Kingdom at this time of anxiety, confusion and loneliness.
We live in a time when many public services are under strain, loneliness is widespread and anxiety about the future is commonplace.
While larger and amalgamated churches can bring opportunities, we must also recognise the increase in reported parishioner loneliness and the additional pressures placed upon clergy.
The 2025 Living Ministry survey found symptoms of depression among 29% of active clergy and 35% of incumbents, while 40% experience chronic loneliness.
( 29%); loneliness (40%) and hardly any (only 3.9%) consider they are well managed.
As a charity trustee bring an understanding of the hidden loneliness and poverty in seemingly idyllic rural settings and the challenges of delivering services in ‘hard-to-reach’ communities.