Life Boost Cafe - improve your life one cup at a time (360G-SCVO-a0g0N00001gAR8xQAG)

The funding will help us to continue utilising the peer support model to give older people in Falkirk the opportunity to help each other. It will give them the opportunity to learn, share and grow, in a safe and welcoming environment, surrounded by people with similar experiences. The funding will help us build on challenging social isolation of older people in Falkirk area and the ways in which they can maintain and improve their well-being. Additional funding would mean the original group could have the breathing space to establish ways of sustaining the group after the funding ends. The funding would also allow us to continue working with the Falkirk town centre group, introducing a variety of activities to strengthen bonds between members. The groups would have a space to meet and participate in opportunities in their community that supports their overall well-being. We would be able to organise joint activities, bringing everyone together and widening the support network further. All of the learning from this project will be incorporated in the co-produced guide. The guide will also raise awareness about the issues that serve as barriers to well-being for older people. It will incorporate learning from the projects, which should be very helpful to anyone considering starting their own group. For instance, we found that if you start a group by organising meetings in a café, it makes it a lot easier to get the initial interest and lots of people to come along. However, in order for those people to form friendships, weekly meetings in a café might not be enough. The funding will allow us to directly engage with 30-40 people, and the guide should benefit an even larger group, as it will be disseminated widely.