We’d love to hear from more people, but perhaps an initial sample of 25 participants in this conversation will dovetail with other evidence about the impact of the pandemic on our mental health and wellbeing, including conversations that Orb and Knaresborough Connectors have had with local residents. 

The 25 participants responded to 7 statements.  1 in 5 respondents did not think that people’s levels of anxiety had been heightened by the pandemic or that loneliness had increased – perhaps that’s because neighbours and the local community had worked well in adversity.  This is confirmed by the fact that most people in the conversation agreed that “Being good neighbours during COVID has helped a lot of people address feelings of loneliness and isolation that we should continue to support.” 

The statement with the highest level of support in the survey was, however, that “despite the relaxing of COVID rules there are still a lot of people who are anxious about social gatherings.”  So, there’s always work to be done!

You can see the detailed analysis of responses here.