Last month, 12 Community Clubs from across the South West region of Scotland benefitted from an invaluable boost in helping sufferers of dementia and Alzheimer’s as they took receipt of football memory boxes at Hampden Park.
The boxes, containing various objects relating to the game are designed to play a pivotal role in the delivery of the Football Memories project which aims to tackle social isolation and help those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Football Memories promotes a relaxed environment, encouraging participants to engage with one another and recollect their fondest memories when following the beautiful game. The addition of memory boxes, thanks to support from The Scottish Football Partnership Trust, are tangible memory stimulants for those involved in the project.
Community clubs from across Scotland have gone through training and education at the Scottish Football Museum and Scottish FA Club Development Manager David Sheldon believes the clubs help to drive positive results. He said: “Football is such a powerful tool for so many people and the impact that Football Memories is having on those who are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s is clearly evident and wonderful to behold. There are a number of cases already showing the success of the project on people across the country – stimulating memories and tackling social isolation. The Football Memories project is really connecting with its demographic across the country. It encourages engagement and harmonises with initiatives like Walking Football, which is continuing to grow. The community clubs are the vehicle for delivering initiatives such as this across Scotland and our most engaged community clubs have not only been instrumental in this but are growing stronger and stronger as time moves on. We’re proud to be able to work with the community clubs to deliver Football Memories and The Scottish Football Museum’s generous support in donating these memory boxes is a crucial step in developing this project. Our thanks also go to The Scottish Football Partnership Trust who have contributed to purchase the memory boxes.”
Stuart McCaffrey, Chief Operating Officer at The Scottish Football Partnership Trust, praised the work being carried out in the South West Region with clubs like Greystone Rovers AFC and Beith Juniors CFC. He said: “Football Memories is an incredibly engaging and impactful reminiscence project, which harnesses the positive power of football to support people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s in communities throughout Scotland. We are delighted to be working in partnership with The Scottish FA to assist community clubs and organisations in the South West Region to deliver this project on a local level.”
Robert Craig, Chair of The Scottish Football Museum: “Football Memories boxes have proven to be an invaluable resource, with 75 boxes now being used by groups throughout Scotland. The touch and feel of the objects in the boxes stimulate memory recall, bringing back distant recollections of games played and watched.”
For more information on the Football Memories initiative, visit www.footballmemories.org.uk
