Marking National Scrabble Day and Mental Health Awareness Week, the brand will partner with community cafe The Canvas to encourage people to connect over a game of words.

Today, on National Scrabble Day, the Scrabble brand has unveiled a new initiative to foster community and combat loneliness after new research has found that almost half of Brits would like to feel more connected to their communities and 36% feel lonelier since the pandemic.

Findings show that over half of people surveyed believe playing a board game with others would make them feel less alone. Scrabble has brought together generations of people from all over the world for the last 70+ years and has announced a number of initiatives to help people foster connections with others:

• Scrabble will partner with The Canvas, a London community events hub and café that is committed to positive social change.
• A Scrabble branded pop-up will be live at The Canvas from National Scrabble Day from the 13th April until 17th May – the end of Mental Health Awareness Week, the theme of which is tackling loneliness.
• The pop-up will be a welcoming space that encourages people to ‘come in and connect’ and ‘say hello to a stranger’ by playing a round of the Scrabble game with other members of the community.
• To expand the initiative beyond London, the Scrabble brand is partnering with The Cares Family and its networks to donate board games nationwide for more communities to come together over the Scrabble game.
• The Cares Family will host games nights throughout May, and the one-to-one friendships will receive boards to help them spend quality time together.

Kelly Philp, Marketing director, Mattel UK ,said: “Words can be a powerful tool to connect, uplift and bring about positive connections. This National Scrabble Day, we want to use the power of words to build connections and community, and we are proud to partner with The Canvas and The Cares Family to be a force for good by encouraging new connections.”

The Canvas Scrabble Pop-Up will be live at 42 Hanbury St London, E1 5JL between 13th April and 17th May.

Ruth Rogers, founder of The Canvas commented: “Our ethos for The Canvas is to bring about positive change and create meaningful experiences for our community. We are delighted to host a Scrabble branded pop-up to invite people in and to bring people together over a friendly game.”

Johanna Brooks, head of Communications at The Cares Family added: “The Cares Family exists to help people find connection and community in a disconnected age. The need for community is more apparent than ever, which is why we are excited to support this new way of bringing people together.”

For more information on The Cares Family events in Liverpool, Manchester, East, South and North London, visit the website here.