The 'Let's get together' Breakfast

It seems quite fitting that this month’s Chamber Breakfast speaker runs a charity that is all about connecting and bringing people together.

April Baker is CEO of Together Co – Brighton’s loneliness charity – which works to help people who are experiencing loneliness and isolation in our city. Speaking at Bill’s for our September Breakfast, April was candid about her own loneliness that led to a decline in her mental health, her experience working in the charity sector, and how her own understanding of loneliness has helped her in leading Together Co.

There’s no shame in feeling lonely

April set the scene by asking us to think about loneliness. What do we picture when we think of someone being lonely?

Loneliness is a feeling of disconnection from not having quality relationships. April, an introvert, likes her own company, but being lonely is different from being alone. It’s a lack of ability to have social contact.

She says that research shows 49% of people in the UK have reported feeling lonely at one point in their life – and 4 million people in the UK report often or always feeling lonely. 20,000 of those people live in Brighton & Hove.

And this can have a significant impact on our wellbeing. In terms of health, it’s the equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. You’re 10% more likely to have a heart attack, and much more likely to have a mental health condition. From a business perspective, 1 out of 10 employees often or always feels lonely.

It has a huge impact on us as human beings. 

Never finding a base

So, April’s story.

April was always fascinated in connecting with people – which she attributes to being an only child. She had to find connections with other people outside of her family unit. But she moved around a lot, from Oxford to Dorset, and eventually to Brighton to study at University, so sometimes those connections were hard to keep hold of as she moved.

As an adult, she moved to Brighton, to Australia, and back to Brighton again. After finishing her studies, she moved to London as jobs were short in Brighton due to the recession. But she managed to get on a charity graduate scheme in London, a leadership acceleration course.

By 24 she was running hostels for people experiencing homelessness, working with the Ministry of Justice in London, and things were going great at work. But within that year, she had broken up with a partner, moving between house shares, and because of the leadership acceleration course was moving between different places.

Never finding a base or having someone to connect with – coupled with losing a close friend suddenly at 24 – meant she was grieving without social connection at a time when she needed it.

At work no one knew. She was suffering badly with panic attacks, and at one point couldn’t leave the house.

She says she has been recovering ever since – and has done a lot of work. But also notes that it was not the mental health, but the loneliness that led to the decline. 

Changing it up

So, April changed it up. She moved back to Brighton where she knew people and could create that base for herself. She carried on working in the charity sector, working for BHT Sussex, Turning Tides, Southdown and just over a year ago saw that Together Co were looking for a new CEO.

And – spoiler – she got the job. 

Why is Brighton so lonely?

April was shocked when she started at Together Co, hearing the stories of people who were getting their first visits from volunteers, and struggling to speak as they hadn’t used their vocal chords in weeks.

So why is Brighton – a vibrant city known for its big personality where anyone can be themselves – lonely? Well, April says it’s partly down to being quite a transient city. With two big universities, big tourism and hospitality industries, we’re not as connected as we think we should be.

That’s where Together Co come in. Through a combination of befriending, volunteering and social prescribing, they help people to connect with their communities and volunteers. 

Conversations matter

She was, at this time, ‘The lonely CEO’. Some of the loneliest people in business are the leaders and the founders. But she says communities like Brighton Chamber helped her to find people and connect with the business community.

And on a hopeful ending, April says she’s had so many positive connections and collaborations since starting at Together Co. They’ve worked with Brighton Chamber, Connected Brighton, plus heaps of other charities across the city – either working in a similar space to Together Co and supporting each other, or finding ways to collaborate. 

Three things you can do

April left us all knowing the importance of coming together – that conversations matter. She also gave us three things that we can all do:

1. Look up from your phone when you’re walking around the city. Be ready for those little conversations people might strike up with you – you might be the only conversation that person has that day.
2. Connect with each other, and Together Co!
3. And finally, the big ask – can you volunteer? Giving your time to others is hugely powerful.

Let’s get together, let’s make Brighton & Hove the connected city, reduce loneliness together – because together we thrive. 

April Baker is CEO of Together Co, Brighton & Hove's loneliness charity. Find out more about Together Co, including ways to volunteer, on their website. 

And if you'd like to come along to our next Chamber Breakfast, head over to our events page.

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk