Cash boost for club

Volunteers at the Stonehouse Jubilee Club were celebrating last week after receiving a bumper cheque.

The group received a donation of £1260 – £840 from the Robertson Trust through their Giving More charity and £420 from the Stonehouse Whisky Club. The cash will be put towards a spring outing for members.

The Stonehouse Jubilee Club is a social afternoon for people with dementia, and their carers, which is run by volunteers. It has been running on Thursday afternoons in the Stonehouse Lifestyles Centre since 2012.

The dementia-friendly club is the only one of its kind in a 15-mile radius of the village and provides people living with dementia the chance to listen to music, dance and take part in other activities in a safe and supportive environment.

The club offers a support service to people with dementia who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into the community club and their motto is ‘Music, Laughter and Friendship’.

It arranges a varied programme with an emphasis on music and reminiscence activities, with favourites including quizzes, musical bingo, karaoke, pampering, armchair aerobics, entertainers, special themed celebrations and the Jubilee Jammers.

The whisky club, which meets every month in Stonehouse Masonic Hall, began meeting early last year.

John Thomson, from the club, said: “The club has been a real success since we started. When we decided to raise money for charity we wanted to do so for one here in the village and the Jubilee Club do a lot of great work.

“We also want to thank Eddrington for their huge contribution. We had a fantastic speaker from the company visit the club and offered us a tasting session which we raffled.”

A spokesperson for the Jubilee Club said: “I think it is so good to have the support of the local community, in this case the Stonehouse Whisky Club, and wider afield in Scotland from a recognised founder.

“This all adds to the Jubilee Club.” success of the