Hullo?

This article is taken from our spring 2021 edition of Equinox. You can view the full version here.

According to the Campaign to End Loneliness, 45% of adults feel occasionally, sometimes or often lonely in England, which equates to 25 million people. Given
that loneliness is likely to increase your risk of death by 26%, that statistic is quite concerning.

That’s why Hullo was founded by Lewis Alexander Baxter. The organisation launched in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting the nation through conversation and aiming to ‘create a world where everyone has someone to chat to’.

Volunteers for the start-up use social media and phone lines to provide a meaningful conversation to anyone who reaches out, something that many people are missing in their lives, but especially during the lockdown periods.

Tim Adelani, a member of the Hullo Youth Advisory Board explains, “A conversation is always meaningful, whether you’re talking about anything and everything, or nothing at all.”

After speaking with Lewis about Hullo’s work and its importance, especially throughout the pandemic, the Equilibrium Foundation decided to make a donation to the charity.

This donation allowed the charity to recruit their first paid member of staff, Head of Operations. Despite only being set up for a few months, Hullo received 375 applications for the role and, after 20 interviews, a successful candidate was appointed.

Colin Lawson, Founder of Equilibrium, is thrilled at the charity’s progress: “Giving back has always been a huge part of our values at Equilibrium, and as soon as Lewis and I had our initial conversation, it felt as though there was a natural alignment between our two organisations.

“We couldn’t be happier to have helped Hullo reach this major milestone – I have absolute faith that they’ll go on to do great things and enact some very positive change across the UK.”

Hullo is all about safe, relaxed, everyday conversation. Whilst they are not a medical or mental health organisation, counselling service or helpline, they do work in partnership with other charities and can refer people to them if they are in need of specialist help and advice.

Hullo’s phone lines are open every day from 9am to 9pm to chat with as often as you like for as much as 20 minutes each time. You can call them on 0800 001 4455.