News and Events Articles Oddfellow's Friendship month 2021 . Starting from Wednesday 1st September all the way through to Thursday 30th September is Friendship month - hosted by the Oddfellows. This month is all about celebrating the importance of friendship between one another as well as combating loneliness. Especially during lockdown when the bonds of friendship proved valuable in keeping each other happy (dare I say sane) and comfortable through 2020 - 2021. There is a growing problem within the UK and sadly, that is loneliness. During 2020 alone, at least 9 million people within the UK often felt lonely or always alone. Because of the Covid lockdowns this number was on the increase: in particularly with young people between the ages of 16 - 24 or in the areas with higher employment. Typically, when one mentions loneliness it is easy to make an assumption that only elderly people feel it, but as we can see above that is just not true. The lockdown has isolated the young and old from their friend groups. We can break through that loneliness with the Oddfellows - proving the importance of having the bonds of friendship to keep each other happy! - Friendship and bringing people together at Lench's Trust. At the Lench's Trust, we find it extremely important to strengthen the bonds of friendship and making sure no one is left sitting on their own without someone to talk to - whether that be another resident of one of our many friendly members of staff. We achieve this by having many activities available during the afternoon & evening (such as knit & Natter or afternoon teas hosted in the café) to bring residents together - strengthening friendships and creating new ones. This is more important to use now more than ever - with Lench's Trust recently opening up it's communal areas to start these activities once more. Lockdown has been tough on Lench's Trust Staff and residents so this is a nice opportunity to get everyone together once again to combat any loneliness as well as enjoy each other's company. That is what we at Lench's Trust is striving for during the Oddfellows friendship month. Taking part in Oddfellow's Friendship Month There are a number of ways you can get involved in friendship month, first of which is keeping an eye out for local Oddfellows friendship events, they offer anything from; tea parties, lunches to quiz nights. These events have a single goal! To bring people together letting no person feel alone or lonely. Enjoy these Oddfellows events through September (alternatively host your own small friendship events) and let's fight loneliness together! If you are looking for more information on friendship month, please click HERE. This link will take you to a site that will tell you a little bit about the Oddfellows month along with some of it's history. Background banner image by Hannah Busing on Unsplash.