A well established facility in Annan, serving the town and surrounding communities is about to be launched into a new era of expansion, with a brand-new purpose-built base now on the horizon and development of the services they provide already taking place, while creating more jobs and training opportunities.
Annan Day Centre will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year and its future looks bright. With exciting plans, delivering a holistic approach to the enhancement and welfare of senior members in the Annan and district community, Annan Day Centre is tackling, head on, the growing issues with isolation in older age and improving people’s mental and physical wellbeing.
The service not only benefits people of retirement age, it supports and enhances the lives of adults living with health conditions that can lead to isolation. With more individuals experiencing age-related conditions like dementia, heart attacks or strokes much earlier in life, the Day Centre has shaped support around that growing need. They also cite the general increase in life longevity and particularly men now living longer and often alone. With loneliness and mental health challenges on the rise since the COVID pandemic services such as those offered by Annan Day Centre are much needed, more than ever before.
Manager at the Centre, Emma Irving and her team have been working tirelessly over recent years to swell the membership, supporting more and more members of the community. She explains: “Rebuilding our membership and reinstating our services, following COVID, has been our priority. Now it’s time to grow and expand the range of what we offer and on top of that we are now in a position to supercharge our plans for a purpose built facility in the town.”
This year has been a year of investments for Annan Day Centre, validating the importance of the facility and the commitment the local authority and other organisations have show. With a grant of £60,913 from The National Lottery Community Fund the Connected and Thriving project, this will support community-led activities for the next two years. It will help subsidise the cost of services and has added two new members of staff to the team, brought in to develop a brand new programme, which includes line dancing, chair Pilates, easy aerobics and supports established activities such as aqua fit and a range of indoor activities for members attending the Day Centre drop-in facility, currently housed within the Market Hall. Neal Bennison, covering Dumfries & Galloway as Funding Officer for the National Lottery said: “We were delighted to fund the project as I have seen first-hand the community cohesion that the project helps build, enabling people to age actively and well, and connected with each other.”
The importance of having a busy schedule of varied activities is seen as essential for servicing a diverse range of people from the community. The Day Centre was set up by senior members of the community back in 2005 for the benefit of those reaching later years or those who are also in a more vulnerable position and may suffer loneliness. Present head of the charity, Donald Irving has been a member for a decade, serving as chairperson most of that time. He explains: “Providing a thriving schedule of activities for people to join in with keeps the Centre vibrant. It’s vital to help combat loneliness by helping people stay connected.”
To take forward the bigger project, establishing a brand-new purpose-built building on the grounds of the former Annan library, Dumfries & Galloway Council, through the 2025/26 Community-Led Economic Regeneration Fund (CLERF) have awarded Annan Day Centre a capital grant of £88,664. This award, through RIBA Stage 3 will enable the Day Centre to move into Stage 4 by the end of this year. Manager, Emma Irving explains further: “We took ownership of the old library through a community buy-out in 2021. With the original building being subject to vandalism and subsequent fire damage meaning it had to be demolished, we were in the perfect position to realise the opportunity to create a purpose-built facility. The project is managed by Ewan Macfarlane from Macfarlane Surveying and Construction and we are very excited to see things progress. This has been a long journey, but we’ve kept going and we believe the new Centre will be a lasting asset to the community.”
A further bonus for the Day Centre has been an award from Bank of Scotland Foundation – Empower 2025. A sum of £150,000 will be fed in over the next three years, to provide security and sustainability during rising demand. Emma and her team were overwhelmed and delighted to be one of the successful candidates. She adds: “This will support the continuation and development of vital programmes. We are very grateful to all our supporters and funders; from large organisations such as Bank of Scotland Foundation to the many local businesses who have supported us along the way. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
The need for purpose-built facilities that can offer a multitude of services and activities taking place simultaneously, for the growing older generation within communities across Scotland is needed more than ever before in Annan. That need is only going to increase, according to research commissioned by government and health authorities. From the perspective of Annan Day Centre the evidence supports their drive to offer more and provide services that can be accessed by a larger number of people. The town of Annan has a population of 8,700, with over 2,000 of its residents being over the age of 65. That number is on the increase and with life expectancy growing too there is more and more need to ensure that our ageing community is best equipped both mentally and physically to enjoy later years and for those that can, to continue making a positive contribution to the local economy and community.
The new facility will be on the horizon soon, and in the meantime Emma and her team; Donald and the active committee members will continue offering the wide range of services that they do, from the Market Hall and support offered for people at home. Emma and her team have a strong vision ahead: “The objective of Annan Day Centre is to preserve and strengthen the health and wellbeing of our members and to help people still living in their own home to do so for longer, in comfort and with dignity”
The Annan Day Centre was founded with a strong objective when established 20 years ago: to combat loneliness and improve the health of vulnerable members in the community and that intention remains their core mission. With the combined team of trained workers and the very driven committee the future looks promising. Donald explains: “Care in the community has been an objective of our national heath services for many years, taking strain away from care homes and hospitals. That can only be done with private-sector intervention and the Annan Day Centre is an excellent example of doing just that. We have a strong core of services, ranging from a varied programme of activities at the Day Centre to foot-care services, meals on wheels, transport to the Day Centre and for medical appointments, as well as home cleaning services. All these things combined help people remain independent for longer and that is good for everyone.”
