Later life
Lonely and isolated older people will receive help through the power of sport
Around 1,000 lonely and isolated older people from across England will receive help and support thanks to our grant to the Sporting Memories charity.
The Freemasons’ award of £15,000 will help Sporting Memories to recruit, train and support local volunteers across England and Wales to facilitate the charity’s Community Clubs.
Sporting Memories help older people to reminisce, replay and reconnect through the power of sport and physical activity. They run regular local Community Clubs with a wide range of activities designed to be inclusive for people aged 50 years old and above who have differing levels of cognitive ability, live with dementia or have other long-term conditions.
The Clubs focus on two key areas – trying to develop the confidence of older people so that they feel comfortable being part of regular activity and, in turn, improve their mental and physical wellbeing.
We’re very grateful to Yorkshire Freemasons for their generous grant. Sporting Memories Clubs wouldn’t run without the time and dedication of people in the local communities who are willing to help, and this award is vital in enabling us to recruit more volunteers to deliver engaging and fun activities for older sports fans. Volunteering can be a great way of giving back and also provides the volunteer with positive mental wellbeing benefits by allowing them to engage with older people.
It’s a matter of real pride for us that we are able to assist the Sporting Memories Foundation develop a programme that will help even more people, who face loneliness and isolation. I am sure there will be a number of Freemasons in the County who will want to be involved as volunteers under this new programme.