Big Hearts tackle loneliness amongst older people

Big Hearts tackle loneliness amongst older people

Big Hearts, the Community Trust of Heart of Midlothian, launched ‘Edinburgh Memories’ a brand new initiative to tackle loneliness amongst older people. The project extends significantly our level of support to this key group identified as most at risk of social isolation within our community.

Edinburgh Memories takes its roots from Big Hearts’ successful Football Memories programme, using old pictures of the iconic places and people of the city to encourage social connections between over 65s. The reminiscence group is led by Big Hearts Volunteers and will run twice a month at Tynecastle Park, every 1st and 3rd Tuesday.

Big Hearts is delighted to have received the support from the People Postcode Lottery and their Postcode Community Trust to bring this project to life. The awarded grant has enabled our charity to create a new series of free reminiscence groups accessible at Tynecastle on a weekly basis along with regular family trips to places of interest.
– Edinburgh Memories: 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month, 1:45pm to 3:15pm
– Football Memories: 2nd and last Tuesday of every month, 1:45pm to 3:15pm
– Memories On the Road: Day trips on the extra Tuesday of the month when applicable.

25 participants at the first session

The inaugural ‘Edinburgh Memories’ session welcomed over 25 participants from a wide range of backgrounds including local care homes and Hearts fans.

One of the participants, who brought along her mom and dad, said: “It’s been a lovely afternoon. I knew about Football Memories, but I thought my parents would feel more comfortable talking about their daily life in the city. Indeed, they really enjoyed today and we will certainly be back!”