Planning for Darvel's older population

Darvel is getting older – faster than the rest of East Ayrshire and faster than Scotland as a whole. The Darvel Community Action Plan 2014–2019 set out to make sure the town was ready.
Figures from the 2011 census, gathered in the plan's community profile, showed the town's population had grown to more than 3,550 – an increase of 5.7% in ten years. But the most significant change over that decade was among older residents. The number of people of pensionable age rose by around 25%.
By 2011, 28% of Darvel's population was over 60. That compared with 24% across East Ayrshire and 23% across Scotland.
The plan stated plainly that the community wanted to develop more facilities and services for its growing elderly population. At the time, the town's care provision included Collins Court, managed by Trust Housing Association, with space for up to 17 residents. Health services were provided through the Loudoun Medical Centre, with the nearest hospital at Crosshouse in Kilmarnock and the nearest dentist in Newmilns.
Under its Community Safety, Care and Transport theme, the plan made developing day care and befriending services for the elderly its second priority. The proposed actions were to:
• explore older people's needs further, and look at how other communities had developed similar services
• introduce additional services and activities as required
The Community Council, East Ayrshire Council and Darvel Parish Church were named as the organisations to lead the work.
Befriending services typically pair volunteers with older people who might otherwise spend long stretches alone, offering regular visits, phone calls or company on outings. Day care provides a place to meet others, share a meal and take part in activities. Both can make a real difference to older people living independently in their own homes.
Transport was part of the same picture. The plan's push for better bus links – including a direct route to Glasgow and simpler journeys to Strathaven and Hamilton – matters a great deal to older residents who no longer drive.
The town's strong community spirit gives it a head start. In the survey, 39% of residents named community spirit and friendliness as one of Darvel's best features, and the community profile listed groups such as the Darvel Old Men's Cabin, the WRI, the Bowling Club and the Horticultural Society.
The plan's message was that an ageing population is not a problem to be managed, but a community to be supported – and that Darvel's own people were best placed to start that work.