Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Minister for Loneliness visits Leeds to hear about Sporting Memories
Joined by staff, volunteers and trustees of Sporting Memories, and partner organisations, the visit took place at Headingley Carnegie Pavilion as part of a regional fact-finding tour on solutions to reduce loneliness.
The Minister heard first-hand accounts from regular volunteers about the groups they run, which help older people experiencing loneliness to reconnect with their love of sport and to develop friendships. She also saw video clips of some of the people helped by Sporting Memories and looked at a selection of images of memorable sporting moments on display.
Professor Claire Surr, Professor of Dementia Studies at Leeds Beckett, alongside colleagues Dr Andy Pringle and Dr Alys Griffiths, provided the Minister with an overview of the formal collaborative partnership between the University’s Centre for Dementia Research and Sporting Memories and current research and evaluation initiatives between the two organisations.
Professor Surr said: “It’s great to have our dementia research profiled in this way with a Ministerial visit. The collaboration between Leeds Beckett University and Sporting Memories is a valuable partnership which produces some fantastic results.”