Age UK Derby and Derbyshire provide a huge range of services and activities for older people. Many of these help service users meet up with friends – and make new ones, socialising and getting out and about. One of these is the Memory Lanes project, a dementia-friendly group including people with memory loss, long-term conditions, stroke survivors and people becoming frail, anxious or depressed. Memory Lanes – supported by health and wellbeing funding though the local CVS – puts on a wide range of activities, reminiscence sessions, trips out to local pubs for lunch, tea dances and other excursions. ‘It’s all about meeting new people and keeping up with friendships,’ explains Di Cliff, Development Worker at the Chaddesden Centre. ‘These trips out allow people to get together with old friends – friendships that have sometimes been disrupted by distance or illness – and it’s also a good opportunity to meet new people.

‘It’s amazing to see the difference it makes. The daughter of one of our service users told me recently about how her mother, Nancy, was excitedly rifling through her wardrobe for the first time in ages, picking out her frock and accessories for the tea dance and planning to get her hair done. Bringing people together can give a new lease of life. ‘For many older people it’s very difficult to get to a bus stop and normally, most people can only get transport to take them to hospital appointments. We use a minibus from Derbyshire Community Transport to pick up service users for trips to go out for lunch, excursions – and the ever popular tea dances. The journey is really important – a real part of the day out, not only because it gets people into the countryside, but also because they can meet up with their friends on the bus.’