An award-winning Angus community hub has embarked on a new era in a permanent base fit for future expansion of the effort to support those living with dementia.
Since its formation in 2015, Kirrie Connections has pioneered a range of programmes to help people in the town and beyond.
It’s successes include becoming Scotland’s first meeting centre based around a model successfully developed in the Netherlands to tailor support to individuals and their families.
Based until last year in the former Angus Council Access office in Kirrie, it has now taken up residence in another town centre premises at The Roods, offering what officials say is space to grow the project and its ambitions.
The former Co-op funeral home premises will remain out of bounds to clients and their families whilst the pandemic restrictions still apply.
But chief officer Graham Galloway said vital work which has been going on through the coronavirus crisis will continue.
Community garden plan for new home
Work on the new building is already underway in preparing it for the return of regular and new faces.
“This is a very significant step for us, with our own building which offers so much opportunity for what we want to do going forward,” said Mr Galloway.
The move has been aided by grant support of £8,650 from the Community Climate Action Fund and a further £15,000 from the Creating Better Lives in Tayside project run by the Life Changes Trust.
Mr Galloway added: “The space inside the building is much greater for all of our needs.
“And there is a significant area of ground outside beyond what car parking we need so we hope to develop part of that into a community garden.
“It will be a base for Kirrie Connections, but we want it to be more than that and are coming up with a lot of ideas.
“It provides so much scope and we absolutely want this to become a beacon of what can be achieved.”
Since the first lockdown, the organisation has continued to support locals through regular Zoom meetings of the popular memories and activities groups it has established.
And it continues to deliver more than 1,000 printed sheets of activities and information each week.
Successful festive programme
In a Leader-funded festive partnership project, Kirrie Connections sent out 40 individually-tailored wellbeing hampers and staged a successful online Christmas party to help people stay connected.
“Kirriemuir Rotary Club paid for 40 Christmas lunches to go out to Kirrie and other places including Forfar and Letham.
“The support from businesses and the feedback we received was absolutely fantastic.”
Graham added: “What we did over Christmas summed up much of what we have been doing to support people during this difficult year.”
“But our key thing is face-to-face work, so it is essential we have a core base to work from when things get back to normal again,” said Graham.
He continued: “It is a big investment and we have funded the building from our own resources and a mortgage, but are very grateful for the grant support.
“Life Changes Trust have been instrumental in supporting us from the outset and this is the fourth round of funding we have received so it is fantastic to have that relationship.”
Trust backs group as ‘beacon’ in local community
Arlene Crockett, director of evidence and influencing for the dementia programme at the Life Changes Trust hailed the group’s progress over the past five years.
“We first funded Kirrie Connections in 2015, and it is testimony to their incredible work that we recently awarded them a further £15,000 from our small grants programme, to develop new projects supporting local people living with dementia and their family carers.
“The range of activities they offer is informed by what people in the local community want and need.
“The work of Kirrie Connections can be seen across the community and the impact on those affected by dementia has been significant.
“They have been a beacon in the local community and we are pleased to be able to offer this support,” she said.
