RSA Alone Together - Afterglow

‘Accounting for how different groups in society are affected by loneliness, design a way to reduce its impact on one or more of the following: physical health, mental health, or access to services’. Problem: Student loneliness is a major issue in UK higher education. Our research identifies half of university students in the UK describe themselves being lonely during term, the impact of this is that 50% of students are leaving university due to mental health issues of which loneliness is a major contributor. Process: Through primary research and student surveys we found that 90% of students said they felt lonely and 80% said more tools are needed to combat loneliness beyond joining a sports club like universities suggest. Our research shows that the loneliest time of day is twilight; when the sun is setting and the day is drawing an end. We chose to focus on reducing loneliness at this specific time of day and ultimately demonstrating that someone out there cares. Solution: Afterglow is a text message service we created to reduce loneliness at the loneliest time of day; twilight. With Afterglow, students can sign up through either university or sources like NUS and at twilight time each day they will receive a positive designed text message. The messages will also include information about events going on at their university and will create a community of other students receiving the messages.