[susiecambria]

I've not looked at the research associated with the Friendship Bench [1] or UK Men's Sheds [2] -- evaluations or data associated with the model's development -- but I would be surprised if either relied only on individual action. Meaning, the resource is there but participation relies heavily or solely on an individual taking affirmative action to join.

I agree with others that individual initiative is important for connections to be made, but I struggle with imagining how people find out about what the opportunities are. Certainly, there's been a ton of work on social isolation, community connections, whatever you call it, and at some point I need to dive in.

This space needs a lot of investment as well as evaluation of initiatives. I worked in nonprofit land in the US for years and from my limited view of the landscape, way more work is needed to determine what works and fund that and not fund efforts that take no initiative to show their effectiveness.

[1] https://www.friendship-bench.org/ [2] https://menssheds.org.uk/