Never Too Old for Fun and Laughter!
Using money raised by Health Lottery London East, People’s Health Trust provided £20,968 of funding to the ‘Never Too Old For Fun And Laughter’ project being run by REAP Community CIC in Lewisham.
Never Too Old For Fun And Laughter is a two year project that provides weekly activities for over-50s from the local area of Lewisham. The range of activities on offer is vast and spans from creative activities like cake decorating and jewellery making; to exercise classes and trips to places of interest including museums, the beach, the theatre or dinner and dance nights out.
At a time where people across the country are feeling more isolated than ever, the need for projects tackling loneliness and social isolation has never been starker. To make sure that their members don’t suffer from isolation, the group have been checking in with them regularly and have been working around the clock delivering essentials to those who have to isolate.
While the members may be in the groups deemed most at risk, project co-ordinator, Mark told us about their enthusiasm to get back together. “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve saw one of our members in the street and they’ve told me to get the group up and running again”, he quipped.
He continued, “To them, the project is what they look forward to. When you’re living in London it can be easy to forget that there’s a whole world out there, that’s why we try and get them out of the city whenever we can. Seeing their faces at the beach is something that will stay with me forever.”
A recent survey commissioned by Santander highlighted the extreme risks of loneliness and isolation during Covid-19. It found that one in five people stated that they had never felt more isolated than they have in the past three months, while 10% of those surveyed confirmed that they felt loneliness was actually the toughest part of the entire pandemic. However, perhaps the most notable finding was that 75% of over 55s said that they had struggled mentally during the pandemic.
