THEMES

Health Systems

Loneliness

Capacity building

Rochdale Council: ‘Training the trainers’ - Loneliness Reduction Training

PROCESS

Training

Facilitation

Loneliness is the root cause of many mental health issues and erodes social cohesion in communities. Recognising this, Rochdale Borough Council’s Public Health and Wellbeing Team has been looking to commission loneliness trainings for public sector -both in and out of the local authority - private sector and Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) staff. 

Rochdale Council wanted professionals represented on the Safeguarding Adults Board to be able to identify when someone is experiencing loneliness, diagnose its causes and, therefore, find solutions.

The Project Brief

Our Approach

CSC will produce a new, tailored version of our tried and tested programme to train 10-15 individuals on the Safeguarding Adults Boards so that they can deliver it to their respective colleagues. We will adapt the programme to maximise its practicality and effectiveness in the context of participant’s work. 

We will also: 

  • Provide 1-to-1 follow up support to ensure participants are confident delivering the training to their respective teams; 

  • Produce a short film documenting the approach; 

  • Provide a refresher course to trainers annually; and

  • Produce an impact report based on data collected by each trainer.

In partnership with local infrastructure organisations, CSC delivered loneliness training to over 40 grassroots organisations working in Rochdale, Tameside and West Norfolk, thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. The relational and strength-based approach of our programme means the learning material can be readily adapted to suit the needs, strengths, and interests of participants. 

Rochdale Council was looking for a long-term, impactful, and cost-saving solution. After hearing about our Loneliness Reduction Training, Rochdale Council commissioned us to develop a new version of the training - a ‘Train the Trainer’ model. 

Impact

This innovative yet effective idea to ‘train the trainers’ will extend the reach of the Loneliness Reduction Training. Find out more about the impact of our Loneliness Reduction Training here. 

The project is due to be completed in November 2024