Shocked by the UK loneliness statistics, charitable trust Mytime Active has been doubling down on its community outreach projects.

Research by the Marmalade Trust, which spearheads Loneliness Awareness Week (15-21 June), shows that half a million people over the age of 65 go at least five days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone. The number of over-50s experiencing loneliness is set to reach two million by the end of this year and even young people aren’t immune – 16 to 29-year-olds are reported to be twice as likely as those over 70 to experience loneliness.

Mytime Active’s Primetime Community and Outreach Project received funding from Bromley Council’s Innovation Fund which allowed more than 200 older people to gain free access to eight-week Primetime memberships, offering community-based exercise classes as well as access to the Primetime programme at the leisure centres.

Almost 70 per cent of those who took part said it had increased their contact with other people and helped them feel less isolated and lonely.

For younger people, Mytime Active delivers ArtsTrain, a creative music programme funded by the Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation. Of the 188 young people who took part in ArtsTrain between August 2024 and August 2025, 79 per cent agreed their social skills had increased, while 77 per cent felt more confident. 

“We were shocked to discover that across England almost half (45 per cent) of adults say they feel lonely,” says Steve May, CEO at Mytime Active. “Long-term loneliness is linked to health risks and a 26 per cent higher risk of death, so it’s great to see from these results that the work we’re doing is having a really positive impact locally.”