Your editorial on loneliness (8 May) says that “opportunities for people to meet and build relationships have vanished as libraries, youth centres and swimming pools have shut”.
I worked in both public and school libraries in London in the mid-1970s to 80s. The library space provided a haven for many – of all ages – challenged by loneliness, isolation or obvious impairments. My strongest memories of those years are chatting with our members who needed regular human contact. School library services are now hugely reduced, and public libraries open until 8pm are not the norm. I returned to UK library work in the late 1990s, not long before library closures started. Local authority funding continues to diminish; the coronation’s Big Help Out day seemed trite and patronising.
Julia Edwards
Winchester
• According to the national hearing loss charity RNID, people with hearing loss are more likely to experience loneliness and isolation. I am profoundly deaf with tinnitus since early childhood, unable to use a phone, and each day is a struggle. I hope that I am fun, and I have many interests, but recently, after two weeks of isolation and seeing no one at Easter, I realised I was experiencing severe loneliness.
It took a huge campaign to succeed in lifting the restrictions on supplying hearing aids in one part of the country – north Staffordshire. The government needs to be aware of this serious problem. Standing back with fingers crossed will not do.
Jean Jackson
Seer Green, Buckinghamshire
• Why does the Guardian – and so many other publications – rarely mention involvement with a church as an antidote to loneliness? They’re open to all ages and all interest groups, friendly, and nobody asks you what you believe. A no-brainer.
David Jones
Spalding, Lincolnshire
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