Hospitality Connect:

The role of local hospitality businesses in connecting lives and building communities

Loneliness has been identified as a major issue among older adults in the UK, affecting an estimated 1.4 million in the UK.

In collaboration with the University of Surrey, as part of the UKRI’s Health Ageing Challenge, Toynbee Hall supported a group of peer researchers aged 60+ to conduct PAR to explore how cafes and pubs can play an influential role as third spaces in supporting social connections for older people within communities.

Peer researchers worked with community members, hospitality professionals, policy makers, and local business owners to co-design a toolkit for age-inclusive venues.

Currently over the course of 2025 our peer researchers will be continuing their work with the University of Surrey on a follow up evaluation of the toolkit.