Older people enjoy Silver Sunday events Groups urged to bid for funding
Ageing Well session
West Lothian residents of 65 years and over were invited to a special event at the Hilcroft Hotel in Whitburn recently to mark national Silver Sunday.
The successful event was organised by Xcite Ageing Well project in partnership with Age Scotland to mark Silver Sunday which is an annual day of fun and free activities for older people across the UK led by The Sir Simon Milton Foundation. More than 100 people attended the event which featured information stalls from a variety of services includingXcite Ageing Well, Age Scotland, Alzheimer’s Scotland, McMillan Cancer Support, Food Train, and West Lothian Council information services. During the event, everyone joined in with a fun Tai Chi warm up session which was delivered by Ageing Well Volunteer Tai Chi instructor and this was followed by entertainment from Rovin Productions.
Avril Clerkson, Xcite’s Ageing Well Coordinator, said: “The aim of Silver Sunday is to encourage people to become more active, have fun, try new activities and meet new people. It is a great way to get out there, keep active and sociable, and helps to tackle loneliness and isolation which some people in this age group may be effected by. We would like to thank everyone for attending and to the organisations that provided stalls throughout the day. At Xcite we offer a great range of activities for this age group within our venues as well as within the local community, from Dancing to Walking Football. We hope that the event has also brought awareness of the activities available.”
The day was appreciated by all who were there, with many of highlighting the usefulness of the information from the stalls and how much they all enjoyed the afternoon.
For details about Xcite’s Ageing Well Project visit www. westlothianleisure. com/ xcite/ fitness/ageing-well. A Ba t h g a t e - b a s e d housebuilder which has given away more than £ 18,000 this year is urging other organisations to apply for funding. Community groups, charities and good causes across Edinburgh, East Lothian, Borders, Midlothian, West Lothian and Falkirk can apply for a donation from Persimmon Homes East Scotland through its Community Champions scheme.
The programme aims to support grassroots activities that improve the quality of life for local people. The scheme invites local groups and charities to bid for a match- funded donation from a national fund, with two donations of up to £1000 being made every month.
Jim Kirkpatrick, managing director of Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said: “There has been a tremendous response to our Community Champions scheme but we are keen to remind charities and organisations that they can still apply. We’ve made it really simple to enter by visiting www. persimmonhomes. com/ charity and completing an online application form.”