Loneliness is a shockingly common phenomenon in the UK, and it’s not just an issue that affects the elderly. In 2010, the Mental Health Foundation found that 18- to 34-year-olds were more likely to feel lonely often, to worry about feeling alone and to feel depressed because of loneliness than the over-55s.

More than nine million people privately admit to feeling as though they are “always or often alone”, according to research by organisations – including Age UK, the Alzheimer’s Society and Refugee Action – supporting the Jo Cox commission. Despite this, most of those lonely people told researchers that they would never talk publicly about how they feel.

This perhaps isn’t surprising. Humans are social, judgmental beings, and loneliness has long been stigmatised. One major 1992 study by researchers in the US found that lonely people were generally less liked and perceived as weaker, less attractive and less competent than people with lots of friends.

Anti-loneliness badges inspired by Jo Cox are being handed out on the tube