The city is one of four areas across the UK which has been chosen for the trial by Campaign to End Loneliness after the charity won £2.7 million from the Big Lottery Fund.

Research found loneliness could be as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and the campaign says it can increase the likelihood of early death as well as the risk of dementia, high blood pressure and depression.

The public is being encouraged to carry out 250,000 “acts of kindness” to help lonely people which could range from regular phone calls to volunteer work in the community.

As well as Glasgow, the £4m project will operate in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, Cambridgeshire and a selected region in Northern Ireland.

The campaign group hopes to work with businesses, local authorities, policymakers and member of the public to develop their own local solutions.

Laura Alcock-Ferguson, director of the Campaign to End Loneliness, said: “Over the next four years we will be expanding our work to inspire thousands of people to take action in their neighbourhoods, workplaces, businesses and high streets.

“There are more than one million older people suffering chronic loneliness in the UK, but, by making it our business to help just one of those million, we can all make a big difference.”

Big Lottery Fund chief executive, Dawn Austwick, said: “Loneliness is an issue that touches us all, so there’s a real opportunity for this valuable project to bring communities together up and down the country to address it head on.

“Through putting the power in the hands of those most affected by isolation, we can develop local solutions that make a real difference to people’s lives.”