Frome Connects - The Connectedness Experiment

Connectedness should be considered as vital to health and well-being as physical activity, a balanced diet, and regular healthcare. While exercise, nutrition, and medical access are widely recognised for their health benefits, social, emotional, and community connectedness plays an equally powerful role but is less recognised and often seen as ‘the fluffy stuff’. It is something that we can all do but many of us are not aware of the power of connectedness.

What will we do in Frome in 2025?

  1. We will increase knowledge and understanding in the community about the importance of connectedness.
  2. We will shine a light on what is already happening in the community around connectedness.
  3. We will introduce new community led micro-projects, opportunities, ideas, challenges and events to build in more connectedness.
  4. We aim to build in reporting into the work to enable us to demonstrate that a community-led, people-powered project that focusses on connectedness can positively impact health and well-being.

There are lots of different types of connectedness and each has a positive impact on health and wellbeing. We will focus on all of these types of connectedness, not just connection to other people. These are the multiple types of connectedness we will focus on:

Connection to Self (eg knowledge, skills and confidence, self-care, self-awareness and personal values). Example of research: A strong sense of self-awareness is linked to improved emotional regulation and better mental health. People who engage in regular self-reflection and self-care practices experience a 30% increase in life satisfaction and a 24% reduction in symptoms of depression.

Connection to Others (eg friends, family, neighbours, strangers, pets). Example of research: Social connectedness is crucial for emotional well-being. Strong social connections can reduce the risk of mortality by 50% and are associated with lower rates of anxiety and depression.

Connection to Community (eg shared places and spaces, parks, nature, workplaces, places of worship, community groups, activities and events). Example of research: A sense of belonging to a community can improve happiness and mental health. Individuals who feel a strong connection to their community are 2.6 times more likely to report good mental health. Exposure to nature lowers stress levels, improves mood, and enhances cognitive function. Just 20 minutes in a park can significantly decrease cortisol, the stress hormone.

Connection to a Higher Sense of Meaning and Purpose. Example of research: Individuals with a sense of purpose have a 15% lower risk of early death and report higher life satisfaction and resilience.

Connection to Resources and Information (eg books, apps, websites, word of mouth). Example of research: Access to information and resources is essential for personal and community growth. Studies show that individuals who actively seek and utilise resources report a 40% increase in self-efficacy and a greater sense of empowerment.

One of the inherent risks of the Frome Connects experiment lies in the lack of concrete data on how this model will play out. Because this has not been done before, it is challenging to predict the exact outcomes or impacts in advance. Yet this uncertainty is also the core of what makes Frome Connects a valuable innovation.

This experiment will not only help us learn whether increased knowledge of the importance of connectedness and increased access to activities that focus on connectedness has a positive impact on our wellbeing but it will shape learning for introducing such a model in other communities.

Town Connects will start in Frome with Frome Connects. If successful, we will write a toolkit, create a webinar and share our learning so other towns can come on board in the following year. The toolkit will be iterative with our learning from different towns/areas each year being fed in. We hope that Town Connects becomes bigger each year and the learning becomes richer as time goes on.

If you are in Frome and want to get involved or if you are from a different area and are curious about how our experiment goes, do go to the 'contact us' page and connect with us.