Lonely hearts club land (From Borehamwood Times)

Lonely hearts club land

1:17pm Monday 15th December 2008

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A BBC study suggests the UK is a nation of lonely hearts, with traditional community life fading away. Suzie Hart explores whether Hertsmere residents are part of the growing trend.

Living alone is a choice people make for a variety of reasons — to remain financially independent, because of geographic isolation from family and friends or simply because they enjoy having the entire sofa to themselves.

Whatever the cause, one-person households are becoming more common, and the figures sit among other statistics that suggest people are becoming isolated from their communities.

Research commissioned by the BBC shows that in 1971, Borehamwood’s population was 54,744 and 2,174 people lived alone.

This figure has grown rapidly over the years — in 2001, there were 6,371 one-person households, despite the population increasing by just 394.

The study also gives figures for anomie, the sociological term used to describe the feeling of “not belonging”. It says the percentage given is a “very rough estimate”, but is based on a scale and weightings that have now been widely used by many researchers.

In 2001, about 21 per cent of Borehamwood residents were said to be disengaged from their community, or suffering from anomie.

A decade earlier, the feeling was even slightly worse, with nearly 22 per cent.

In 1981, anomie was at 16 per cent and in 1971 it was just 14 per cent.

Carol Denbigh is the assistant cub scout leader for Elstree District, and the area’s annual Poppy Appeal organiser, and often struggles to recruit people for projects and events.

Despite a new scout hall, she is struggling to find scout leaders, and a recent five-hour recruitment drive for Poppy Appeal volunteers produced just two willing participants.

She said: “We can’t get leaders. We’re really short and we can’t take as many children. It seems to be there are more people not working. They have more free time, but they’re not getting involved.

“There are people out there who must be lonely who need to belong to something.”

Mrs Denbigh said funding was always a problem, which may put people off joining community groups.“We want to run things but we haven’t got the money to do them. There’s only so much you can raise.”

Ten years ago, Mrs Denbigh and her husband Len calculated the cost of petrol and other expenses needed to volunteer for a year, and it came to £3,000.

“If we did that now, I think it would be quite frightening,” she said.

As evidence of people’s waning interest in the world around them, the study shows political apathy is higher now than at any time since the Second World War.

It found that neighbourhoods have become far more socially distinct in 2008 compared to the more mixedneighbourhoods of 1968.

The study states: “If recent trends continue into the coming decades, although we may not notice the change year on year, Britons will come to live in an extremely segregated, fragmented and alienated society in the future.”

Councillor Ernie Butler, Labour representative for Borehamwood’s Cowley Hill ward, said the benefit system can often encourage people to live by themselves, or alone with their children, as they receive a higher amount.

He said many people may be unaware of groups such as Brookside Boys’ Club, where older people can pass their knowledge onto young ones, and the Three Ways Community Centre, where people can socialise and interact.

“We need to get more people coming to these places and not sitting at home on their own. A lot of people don’t know what there is out there.”

To buck the trend of a segregated society, Mr Butler also suggests people could start rebuilding the sense of community by looking just beyond their doorstep.

“Sometimes it’s a bit of a selfish society. There are a lot of elderly people on their own. It doesn’t hurt to knock on their door every now and again to check if they’re okay.”

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