LifeCare Edinburgh marks 85 years of supporting older people from its Stockbridge hub

Some Edinburgh charities have been around for a long time. LifeCare Edinburgh has been supporting older people in the city for longer than the NHS has existed. The charity is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, having been set up in September 1941.

LifeCare began life as the Edinburgh Old People's Welfare Council, founded by three pioneering local women: Miss Lowe, a chartered accountant; Miss Whigham, a lawyer; and Dr Baxendine, physician superintendent of Queensberry House Hospital. Their aim was to give older members of the community a fuller share in community life, and that idea remains at the heart of the charity today.

LifeCare supports older people aged 50 and over, as well as unpaid carers, many of whom are older themselves. The charity says demand for its services has grown by more than 30 per cent over the past year, as more people live with dementia and multiple health conditions, live alone or live further from relatives.

Its home is the LifeCare Centre at 2 Cheyne Street in Stockbridge, a fully accessible community hub with a cafe, CafeLife, one of its day clubs and rooms for hire. The hub aims to bring generations together through activities, classes, groups and events.

The charity also runs a free programme of Talks at LifeCare, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund Scotland, covering subjects from Edinburgh street style to the Water of Leith. In September it hosted a free paediatric first aid session for parents, grandparents and carers.

To mark the anniversary, LifeCare thanked its staff, volunteers, funders, board members and fundraisers, saying it would not be the organisation it is without every person who has supported its work. It has also launched Friends for Life(Care), inviting local people to become part of its next chapter.

The charity points out that supporting it can be as simple as stopping for coffee and cake, having lunch or hiring a room for an event. Every visit helps it continue to be there for local people.

Details of LifeCare's services, the cafe and Friends for Life(Care) are on the LifeCare Edinburgh website.