We’re continuing to support charity campaign

We are continuing our support of a charity campaign for people each lunchtime to open their windows and shout ‘hello’ to their neighbours.

Earlier this year, we saw Communicare in Southampton’s idea to encourage people to shout ‘cooee’ or ‘hello’, or any form of friendly greeting, from an open window or over the garden fence, wall or hedge at a safe social distance to their next door neighbours, each lunchtime.

It was a great way for people to know they had others around them who cared during the pandemic. We feel it could be just as important as we go into the autumn and winter months. This is when elderly people don’t tend to venture out due to the weather and darker, colder evenings.

We hope enough people will continue to do this at 12noon nationwide every day. It really helps those who are housebound realise they are not alone. We think this is a great idea, not just for our service users but also for anyone at home in these uncertain times, who might like to hear a cheery voice.

Communicare in Southampton

Communicare in Southampton is a friendly, neighbourhood charity that wants to eradicate loneliness and isolation in the city with the assistance of its band of Communiteers, who volunteer to give their time freely.

Manager at Communicare, Annie Clewlow, says: “In April, we launched the hashtag #Cooee and asked people through our social media channels to shout this, or any form of friendly greeting, from an open window or over the garden fence, wall or hedge, at a safe social distance, to their next door neighbours.

“We’d love to see this continue through the autumn and winter. Even if they can’t see them, or their windows aren’t open, we hope enough people will continue to do this at 12noon nationwide, every day, to help those who are housebound realise they are not alone. Many people, not just the elderly, are struggling as they are missing out on the socialisation, they would normally have whether through clubs, exercise groups or work.

“This is an all ages campaign, and we hope everyone can get involved. A Office for National Statistics Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, about lockdown loneliness found, of those asked, 30.9%, 7.4 million adults, reported their well-being had been affected through feeling lonely. Working-age adults living alone were more likely to report loneliness, so we’d like to encourage anyone who is at home during the day, for whatever reason, to join in with #Cooee.”