Festival With A Difference Aims to Tackle Loneliness

Londoners urged to get together to limits its impact on mental health

Anna Anderson

June 8, 2023

West London will be hosting a unique Festival next week in a bid to combat an increase in cases of Loneliness.

According to recent research around 700,000 Londoners admit to feeling lonely ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’ and now a local based organisation, founded by a former social worker is at the forefront of a scheme to bring together the community and try and provide an antidote to feelings of isolation which have increased since the Pandemic.

Loneliness Awareness Week ( from 12 June) is a national scheme aiming to address such issues and highlight how it can affect our mental health.

Event, restaurant and co-working space ‘ Kindred ’, which is based in the Grade 2 listed mansion Bradmore House in Hammersmith, is launching a series of events and activities open to all.

Kindred is the vision of Anna Anderson, who was recently recognised in CODE Hospitality’s 30 under 30 list. She founded the ‘open house’ pre-pandemic in December 2018, with the aim of encouraging more human connection via shared experiences over good food and inspiring events.

In 2020 she was named as one of the Kindness & Leadership ‘50 Leading Lights’ in association with Lloyds Banking Group and the Women of the Future Programme. Her background in social work, and belief in the importance of organisations has seen her partner with the West London Queer Project, London Writer’s Salon and the Head of TED, to create the brand new TogethernessFest which will feature talks, workshops and club nights.

Open to all, Kindred is aiming to bring together the local community and provide an antidote to isolation.

The Kindred Building

Hannah Norris, a lifelong Ealing resident who runs a restaurant PR company, says,“Kindred flies a fantastic flag for west London, proudly running events that include residents and communities across several West London boroughs. Their Togetherness festival is a brilliant example of their inclusivity policy in motion.”

The Festival will run from 12 to 17 June with a variety of ticketed events available.

Annemarie Flanagan

Some of the events of TogethernessFest – further details can be found here

Snap & Chat \| Kindred Coffee Social	Monday 12th June, 10am, £6 (includes coworking day pass)	Kicking off TogethernessFest with a game of human snap. Get randomly matched with three coworkers for a coffee and a chat.
Writers' Hour with London Writers' Salon	Tuesday 13th June, 10am, £6 (includes coworking day pass)	Writing can be a lonely pursuit. Join this Writers' Hour with London Writers' Salon for inspiration and encouragement.
ID8 West London with Head of TED - Togetherness Special	Tuesday 13th June, 7pm, £8/£12	Eight headline speakers are given eight minutes to share an idea that will bring the world together. Head of TED Chris Anderson hosts.
Walk(ies) West London	Wednesday 14th June, 10.30am, £6 (includes coworking day pass)	Explore the quieter streets and river paths of West London on this group walk for dogs and dog lovers.
Living in Extreme Isolation \| A Q&A with Polar Explorer Ben Saunders	Wednesday 14th June, 6.30pm, £6/£8	Record-breaking polar explore Ben Saunders shares his stories and life lessons live at Kindred.
How to Build Meaningful Relationships \| Fireside Chat with George Taktak	Thursday 15th June, 1pm, £6 (includes coworking day pass)	How Mental founder George Taktak discusses the causes of the loneliness epidemic – and how we can build better relationships to tackle it.
Come As You Are \| Supper Club with West London Queer Project	Thursday 15th June, 6.30pm, £33	Drink, dine and connect with your friendly LGBTQIA+ folk at this social supper club with a twist (or two)...
Voices in Power \| Togetherness Special with Miss Yankey	Thursday 15th June, 7pm, £18	Voices in Power return to Kindred for a connective night of live poetry, music and industry mingling. Miss Yankey headlines.
TogethernessFest Closing Party	Friday 16th June, 8pm, £15/£20	Join us for the TogethernessFest Closing Party, with live DJs and performances across two floors until 2am.
The Togetherness Brunch	Saturday 17th June, 11am-3pm	Connect with some future friends or familiar faces while enjoying 50% off all brunch dishes in Cellar.

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Festival With A Difference Aims to Tackle Loneliness

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