What even is resilience?
Over the last 18 months the importance of community, whether we mean our environment, neighbours or peers has become a focal point in our daily lives and how we view our own health. Community impacts many things, like our physical and mental health, our local economies (Gudeman 2012), employment and crime levels (Hughes and Edwards 2013) and the cultural and political stability in our neighbourhoods (Christakis and Fowler 2009).
Many of the struggles we’ve seen come to the surface over the duration of the pandemic haven’t been new. We’ve known that our elder communities have struggled with social isolation and loneliness before COVID-19, but as a result of the crisis more people than ever before are feeling lonely and isolated (WCPP, 2020). We know that our mental health services can’t keep up with demand, but coronavirus and the drastic impact on people’s day to day lives, has meant that these services are struggling more than ever with more than half of adults (60%) and two thirds of young people (68%) reporting worse mental health during lockdown (Mind UK, 2020).
It’s not all been bad though, community has really thrived in some areas in response to the pandemic. Volunteers signing up to support the NHS hit over 3 million in 2020. Mutual aid groups were set up all over the country to support their neighbours who had to isolate with shopping and health needs.
The idea of community has evolved over the last 100 years, it means different things to different people now. And understanding that is crucial to better supporting those who need us in times like these. We’ve set out over the past year to answer some of the big questions surrounding community, resilience and how we can help communities thrive. We want to know:
- What exactly is community? If it differs for everyone, is there a framework that helps us define it?
- What have the true effects of covid been on communities? Both good and bad.
- How can anchors organizations, like housing associations and charities encourage the development of healthy, thriving, and resilient communities in the future?
Finding out the answers to these questions will present us with opportunities for growth and better support for those around us. We’re committed to finding creative solutions and to listen to what those in underserved areas need the most to help them thrive.
