YOUNGER PEOPLE
Connections Past and Present. Young people have been connecting with older people, assisting them to use modern technology and become IT literate. This has directly connected young and old, increased understanding and engagement, built skills and confidence whilst improving the lives of older people.
We secured second year funding and took this learning to start to capture the stories and experiences of older people (sometimes in Gaelic) and ensure these memories and lived history is not lost to future generations. Young people facilitate this activity using current and new connections developing an opportunity to learn much more about social history and the lives which our older generation have experienced.
The project brought older people into Rockfield Primary School to speak to different classes. We called this ‘Generation to generation sharing golden memories of times gone by’. The engagement between pupils and the older people was really quite amazing to see and was truly beneficial to all involved.
Plans are in place to take this to the next level with proper training from Scotland Urban Past resulting in the sound and video recordings.
OLDER PEOPLE
Visiting Friends is a volunteer befriending service for socially isolated older people in Helensburgh and Lomond.
The emphasis is on careful matching to provide company and meaningful friendship for both parties. Volunteers make a short visit each week to chat, have a cuppa or take their elderly friend out for lunch – in fact whatever both parties decide. The service is really popular and receives referrals from adult social care as well as families.
Isolation and loneliness can have a profound negative effect on both physical and mental health but we know that befriending really works to combat this!