A supported housing service in Cambridge is highlighting the benefits eating together has on people’s mental health and wellbeing to prevent isolation and loneliness.

Housing association Riverside has launched an Eat Together campaign to demonstrate how dining together can unite people as a community to combat social isolation and loneliness, including some of the benefits communal living can bring. Studies have shown that people who eat alone were more likely to experience depression than those who dined with others.

With this, Riverside’s supported housing services across the country are holding a variety of events with residents including two services in Cambridge – The Victoria Project and The Springs which had 30 residents and staff lunching together.

“It was fantastic, great food. It was good to sit down together. My favourite part was that it was communal, it was good to dine with people and eat,” said one customer who has been at the Victoria Project for seven months and moved in after living on the streets in Cambridge.

The Victoria Project provides safe and supportive accommodation for people aged 18 to 65 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness with support needs across Cambridgeshire. While The Springs is a follow-on accommodation for people with low support needs.

Jamie Butcher, Riverside’s Service Manager at The Victoria Project, said: “We had a great time with 19 customers and 10 staff eating and socialising. Most people sat and chatted, there was a lively atmosphere and a great cheerful feeling.

“I feel it’s so important for many of our customers to build relationships with others, providing an extra resilience against life’s challenges. Although they live in a communal setting, many of our customers don’t feel comfortable approaching others and striking up relationships. It’s well known that owing to isolation, problems the average person can deal with can seem insurmountable without the moral and practical support that friends give.

“Eating together is a perfect opportunity for people to strike up conversations over food, the need for which everyone shares. It was great to see this in action at the lunch when one of our most isolated customers said to me ‘Good food and good company, we should do this more often’.”

Service Manager at The Springs, Emmanuel Yambasu added: “The Eat Together campaign is a great way to highlight the benefits of socialising through food, bringing people together and being part of a community that improve peoples’ quality of life, which in turn combats loneliness and depression.

“It was a great opportunity for staff and customers to meet and chat informally. This is invaluable for breaking down boundaries, increasing rapport and understanding which assists the work in our services.”

Riverside is the third largest provider of homelessness services in the country, and its Care and Support operation works with over 16,000 customers every year.