Throughout this year a group of students have come together to form the GHS Generations Group who are dedicated to creating links between the elderly and the community. This included multiple visits to Cumbernauld care home before lockdown in March, and even throughout they managed to put together care packages that were then dropped off for the residents.
One of the most recent activities they took part in was the Alzheimer Scotland memory walk. In previous years this has been run in different areas and can be from 1.5km to 9.5km and the aim was to raise awareness of the impact of Alzheimer’s. This year, to comply with guidelines, it was set as an open challenge to anyone willing to give it a go, a challenge our GHS generations group were eager to take on. A JustGiving page was created as part of their efforts to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s as well as to encourage others to get involved with the cause through either donating or take part in their own walk. The walk was planned around Cumbernauld to then finish at the care home to wave to the staff and residents that they have been unable to properly visit. By the end of the event the group managed to raise an amazing £541, as well as gaining a better understanding of the illness and its impact.
I spoke to Alyesha Akhtar, a 6th year member of the GHS Generations group, and took part in the walk and asked why she got involved with the group in the first place and she said;
‘I got involved because I like to help others and I knew that spending time with residents and especially those with dementia would mean a lot to them and care workers.’
This truly shows the pure compassion from our pupils and their enthusiasm to help others in the community. We also asked how she felt about her role in this year’s memory walk;
‘The memory walk was great, and we managed to raise money for a cause that affects so many people. Personally, it’s not affected my family, but I know others who have been greatly affected so I wanted to help with this as well as raising awareness of dementia’
