Thanks to the generous support of McCarthy Stone employees, suppliers and homeowners, we were excited to support a programme in Bolton as part of our Spring grants round. Building on a programme piloted pre-Covid with Bolton at Home and Ambition for Ageing, the proposal from Videobox was to run a social eating afternoon every two weeks with older people in a deprived ward of Bolton. Local area deprivation is prevalent in this area and is in the 20% most deprived nationally for older people.

The sessions are intended to encourage older people who are socially isolated to form friendships, improve health and wellbeing, and develop new networks for support and connection. With £5000 of funding from the McCarthy Stone Foundation, the group will meet every two weeks over a 30-week period, with around 25 older people attending each time.

To make the sessions sustainable, the team plan to develop some volunteers within the group to help with organisation, and to build links with the local schools and youth club to promote intergenerational activity. Alongside the social eating, the group plan to regenerate an outdoor space by the community centre where the sessions are held. With support form the local housing provider the plan is to clean up and replant some of the raised beds and create a mosaic that will brighten the space and provide a pleasant outdoor space for local people.

You can follow the group’s activities, with plenty of pictures on Twitter here

We will be checking back in with Tracey and Fran who lead the group in a few months time, but it is great to see the funds already having an impact and bringing smiles to the faces of older people in Bolton.