Blog post - 26. Jun 2026

This year’s nationwide Week Against Loneliness, held from June 22 to June 26, 2026, drew attention to the issue of social isolation through a variety of local activities and was directly linked to the organization’s own project, “Engagiert im Quartier.”

As part of this action week, Caritas Zwickau, the Lichthaus Zwickau association, and the Alte Gasometer organized various low-threshold social gathering events throughout the city. Among other things, “chat benches” were specifically set up in public spaces and used by residents for conversations. Volunteers also supported small initiatives, such as a communal coffee gathering at the Sankt Barbara nursing home for the elderly, to promote social interaction between generations and actively combat loneliness.

The project concluded with a festive barbecue on Friday evening at the barbecue area in Zwickau’s Muldeparadies, organized in cooperation with the City of Zwickau’s Commissioner for Gender Equality and Foreign Residents and the Zwickau Language and Cultural Mediation Service. Despite the sweltering summer heat, participants gathered on the grounds, and the number of attendees steadily increased as the evening wore on and the aroma of the food filled the air. In total, some 45 people from diverse backgrounds attended the event, sharing the food, desserts, and drinks they had brought along.

A special highlight of the evening was the performance by Tanzvolk, a group of dance enthusiasts that regularly organizes informal folk dance gatherings in Zwickau and the surrounding region. The group encouraged everyone present to join in and, through dancing together, created a unifying atmosphere that broke down barriers and strengthened cultural participation among all those present.

The positive response to this week underscores the need for initiatives that sustainably strengthen social ties in the neighborhood. For the association’s future work, combating loneliness by promoting culture, social interaction, and democratic participation remains a central pillar for strengthening social cohesion in Zwickau.