Newly Award-Winning Project Launches Impact Report!
This week Vintage Vibes has been recognised for a national award, had the opportunity to sit down with the new Minister for Equalities and launched our 2023-2024 Vintage Vibes Impact Report!
Every week our team and community of volunteers dedicate their days to tackling loneliness and isolation in our city’s older people through joy and long-term, real friendships. So it seems only fitting that, for us, Loneliness Awareness Week 2024 is a celebration of all the positive things being done to make a difference to loneliness within our community.
This week Vintage Vibes was recognised by Generations Working Together at a reception at The Scottish Parliament, winning the Award for Excellence in Evaluating Impact.
As a team we were incredibly proud to be highlighted as leading in Scotland for listening, learning and being led by our community within intergenerational practice – everything from our VIP Voices Committee to our in depth research collaborations with student groups.
“The Evaluating Impact award recognises projects that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to evaluating the effectiveness of their work.” Generations Working Together
Loneliness Awareness Week also gave us the wonderful opportunity to sit down with fellow friends within the befriending world and talk with the recently appointed Minister for Equalities, Kaukab Stewart MSP.
As a proud member of Befriending Networks, we were delighted to be invited to represent the transformational change that high quality befriending can have on local lives.
CELEBRATING 2023-2024
For Vintage Vibes, Loneliness Awareness Week comes hand in hand with raising awareness of how fantastic local people are tackling loneliness – and with this in mind we have chosen this week to launch our Impact Report 2023-2024.
Designed by the talented graphic illustrator and data geek Molly Nicoll through an 8 week collaborative project, the hand drawn report brings together the top level insights surrounding impact from Vintage Vibes research, focus groups, interviews, surveys and ongoing monitoring.
We are absolutely thrilled to share our compact report, filled to the brim with joy, growth and increased reach across the city. The report outlines how in 23/24 we recruited more volunteers, supported more VIPs, and ran more groups and events than ever before in our 8 year history.
This includes empowering 5,623 hours of volunteering, supporting 236 volunteers, creating 4 new groups and growing partnerships with fantastic organisations throughout the city.
Our proudest statistic, however, is that alongside 97% of VIPs asked saying that being involved in Vintage Vibes made them feel less isolated, happier and have a better quality of life, 91% said that involvement improved their mental health, up a whopping 16% from 75% in 2022-23.
For us, our impact is seen in meaningful connections, improved confidence and increased participation in life for our VIPs, and we think a recent quote from one of our VIPs puts it best:
“It’s done a tremendous amount… I was just so exhausted and ill, but being part of Vintage Vibes, having Erin and all the help, they’ve all been just so positive that I’ve come back so much.”
WHERE CAN YOU FIND US NEXT?
We’re excited to be taking part in Edinburgh Pride Health, Wellbeing and Community Fair next Saturday, 22nd June.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
Find out about volunteering, or make a difference through our Spring Into Action Campaign
HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH?
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