Over 60s Lunch Club in Inverness has marked 10 years of bringing Highland people together with a special get-together; members travel from as far afield as Dornoch in Sutherland to attend the lunch club
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A LUNCH club has celebrated 10 years of bringing people together from across the Highlands for a meal and a dance.
The Over 60s Lunch Club, which meets one Sunday each month in the Royal Highland Hotel in Inverness, was set up to help people who feel lonely.
Every gathering includes a two-course meal at a fraction of the usual price, thanks to the support of the Caring and Sharing shop in Church Street and the owners of the hotel.
Organiser Liz Syred said: “People come from Inverness and beyond. One woman even gets the bus down from Dornoch.
“Twelve years ago there was a report by Inverness Community Care Forum identifying that people over 60 were at a higher risk of feelings of loneliness. It also said that a Sunday was the worst day of the week for those feelings of isolation, as there was very little for people to do.
“The owner of the Royal Highland Hotel, Tajender Bassi, said it was alien to him that anyone who was over the age of 60 was lonely or isolated in any community. In his culture older people are looked after and revered. He wanted to do the same in Inverness.”
The meal is followed by live music and people can join in with singing or dancing.
Mrs Syred added: “The lunch club is open to anyone who is over 60.
“One woman said that we were the only physical contact that some people got from one month to next. They can come with friends and on their own, it doesn’t matter, as long as everyone knows they are welcome.”
- For more information, call Liz Syred on 07925 145496.
- Click here to read more news from The Inverness Courier.
