A WEE COUNTY woman has spent over a quarter of a century treating older people to days out in an effort to combat loneliness among old people in Clacks.

Dorothy Anderson has devoted one day a month for 27 years to taking a group of elderly people on a day visit around the country as part of her work with charity Re-engage.

Re-engage, formerly known as Contact the Elderly, aims to reduce social isolation in old people by organising events such as tea parties or activities.

Speaking to the Advertiser, Dorothy said she was glad to have been involved in helping people feel less lonely.

"It's a nice charity," she added. "The people we take along really enjoy all the tea parties that we organise.

"We aim to help old folks who don't come out their house that much. It's so sad but we're happy to help them.

"When we go out, it's fantastic – they get home baking, have a wee sing along and have a good time. They're absolutely spoiled.

"They also get to see different parts of the country – I take them to a different place each time so it's a really nice afternoon for them."

Dorothy has spent most of her life working with various charities, including the Samaritans, and said she enjoys being able to help others.

On top of her regular outings, Dorothy also takes part in the phone a friend scheme, which sets up an elderly person with a caller to ensure they have somebody to talk to.

She has taken her Re-engage group all over the country – to places such as Scotlandwell near Kinross and Fintry, a quiet village outside of Glasgow.

Dorothy went on to say numbers had dwindled for a while, with the Covid-19 pandemic making a lot of her regulars a bit anxious to socialise.

"I do some trips within Clackmannanshire too," Dorothy added. "We lost quite a lot of my ladies because of the pandemic so I do local trips to Tullibody and Stirling.

"I haven't got as many as I used to. We used to have around 12 regular tea rooms but now we have about six."

Dorothy is helped out by Laura Brown and Angela Caldwell, who contribute massively by driving the groups to the tea rooms and dropping them off at home.

Anybody over 75 interested in joining the group on their tea party excursions can register interest by filling out a form on the Re-engage website or by phoning 0800 716543.