The liveable lives study: understanding everyday help and support

This research looks at ‘low-intensity support’ in Glasgow, examining three specific accounts of everyday help and support, and identifying key themes for further investigation. It looks at how we view informal, everyday help and what barriers prevent the giving or receiving of this type of support.

The report is part of the ‘Liveable Lives’ project, a major study of low-intensity support in Glasgow, and it focuses on three specific accounts, with many themes for further investigation identified. These include:

• The often blurred nature of the relationship between helping and being helped;
• The iterative and incremental way in which trust develops through relatively small acts of help and kindness;
• The central role of mobility in many accounts of help and support;
• The importance of the physical setting of help – for example, back gardens or stairwells; and
• The relationship between online and offline help and support.