It is a great idea. However, speaking as one of the flaky skin brigade, 15 of us in one room would play havoc with the vacuum cleaners. Maybe we should wait until the spring when the sun is strong enough for us to synthesis vitamin D again and meet outside. 😀

By summer we might not be able to step out of our front doors without the necessary papers and completed bubble wrapped...
😀

I work in the mental health field, and some common reasons that members of a support group might need to attend in person, rather than via video call might include:

Hope that's helpful!

I work in the mental health field, and some common reasons that members of a support group might need to attend in person, rather than via video call might include:
...
Hope that's helpful!

Thank you, jenfie! Great points.

A little more development of the thinking on this, based on the legislation. Quoting that legislation now, as found here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1200/regulation/11/made :

Exception 5: support groups
(6) Exception 5 is that—
(a)
the gathering—
(i)
is of a support group,
(ii)
consists of no more than 15 persons, and
(iii)
takes place at premises other than a private dwelling, and
(b)
it is reasonably necessary for members of the group to be physically present at the gathering.
(7) In determining whether the limit in paragraph (6)(a)(ii) is complied with, no account is to be taken of any child who is below the age of five.
(8) For the purposes of paragraph (6), “support group” means a group or one to one support which is organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support to its members or those who attend its meetings, for example those providing support—
(a)
to victims of crime (including domestic abuse);
(b)
to those with, or recovering from, addictions (including alcohol, narcotics or other substance addictions) or addictive patterns of behaviour;
(c)
to new parents;
(d)
to those with, or caring for persons with, any long-term illness or terminal condition or who are vulnerable;
(e)
to those facing issues related to their sexuality or identity including those living as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender;
(f)
to those who have suffered bereavement;
(g)
to vulnerable young people.

....

Ok, now we all know that mental health is a legitimate charitable cause and a good reason for a support group, and it is clearly established by science that face-to-face personal engagement is important to mental health. (Here's another study on the subject, reported by the NHS in 2015 and pointed out earlier today by lockdownsceptics poster mummyfunk: https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/loneliness-increases-risk-of-premature-death/ .)

Looks to me like something essential here is that, in order to qualify legally within the legal exception, the support group must be "organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body ... ." So anyone who is going to do this needs one of those.

My analysis here will concentrated on "a business" and "a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution."

Do you have a "business"? The Government refers to a self-employed person as "running a business" (see https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself ). And it doesn't take much. Do you have an Etsy shop selling rubberbands, hairclips, old shoes? If you do, seems you have a good argument you have a business, even if it's just been set up and in its fledgling stage. And it seems you your business can set up the support group.

Do you have, or can you set up a "charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution"? If you have one, you know about it already. If you don't, how can you set one up? Following the Government's webpages on how to set up a charity ( https://www.gov.uk/setting-up-charity ), it seems to me that the ideal way to do this would be to take the following steps:

1. Identify a charitable purpose -- e.g. "mental health, particularly providing lay support groups for people who self-identify as needing relief from loneliness or other social isolation"

2. Find at least two fellow trustees with whom to found and run the charity.

3. Choose a name for the charity. Perhaps something like "Healing Presence for Newcastle", "You Are Not Alone, Huddersfield," "Face2Face Mental Health for Surrey", etc. Include the name of your village, town, street, or county, to reduce risks of any trade mark problem, and to signal humility, reality, and locality in your purpose.

4. Choose a structure for your charity. If I do this, I will keep it as simple as possible an simply operate as an unincorporated charitable association, which just means a simple group of volunteers working together, without any employees. (See https://www.gov.uk/setting-up-charity/structures ). Remember that with this approach, the trustees will be personally liable for the charity's conduct, but that's fine because you will be operating lawfully and doing good things for people (no funny business!).

5. Create a simple "governing document" as indicated here: https://www.gov.uk/setting-up-charity/governing-document and following the links to the best model document, which to me looks like this one: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/806434/GD3.pdf .

6. You don't need to register your charity if it is unincorporated AND has income under £5,000.

Now, I would additionally recommend (based on my own experience with charities) that any support group created by such an association always have at least two DBS-checked trustees and/or volunteers representing the association at any support group activity -- even including outdoor meetings or walks. This is a matter of due diligence. You can apply online for DBS check, and it usually takes no more than 14 days to get it. https://www.gov.uk/request-copy-criminal-record . Needless to say, you are probably not on the right track in doing this kind of thing if you have a criminal record, in which case, sorry (genuinely) but your good intentions should probably be put to different use in this broken world.

Ok, that's where the brainstorm has got to so far. Hope this may help others, too.