Join Alzheimer Scotland's Tartan Army!

Passionate about Partick Thistle? Go wild for Greenock Morton? Know your Dunfermline Athletic from your Hamilton Academical? If you love football and can donate some of your time to a good cause, then Alzheimer Scotland wants to hear from you.

Our vision is simple. There are thousands of football fans across the country with dementia, who have stood on terraces from Pittodrie to Palmerston Park and felt the joy and the pain that football brings. They have burned with the passion that we Scottish supporters are famous for. These are special memories and football has a language that transcends all cultures and, I think, dementia too.

There are also thousands of people across the country who are decent, kind, gentle and committed football enthusiasts. Many of whom will never have thought about volunteering or engaging in anyway with people with dementia. We are going to speak to these people. We want to use their passion for the game and their personal values in a way that improves the lives of people with dementia and their families.

- Henry Simmons, Chief Executive, Alzheimer Scotland

The Scottish Football Museum have recently announced the results of a nine month reminiscence pilot project, which used digitised photographs and other pictures from their collection with older men who have dementia. The pilot found that football reminiscence could help improve their wellbeing by increasing their self-confidence, making them feel more comfortable in a group and giving them a sense of enjoyment. They worked in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, Culture and Sport Glasgow, The Scottish Library and Information Council, Glasgow Caledonian University and a number of football clubs to carry out and evaluate the pilot project. It was made possible by a grant from Museums Galleries Scotland.

Alzheimer Scotland wants to build on the impressive results of the pilot by taking over the short term funding of the project; working in partnership with the team to ensure that enough support is secured to roll this initiative out across Scotland. Furthermore, all monies raised via our Charity of the Year partnership with the Scottish Football Association will go towards funding this project.

We will start off small; recruiting a team of volunteers, training them in football reminiscence and connecting them to people with dementia. We will use the resources of the Scottish Football Museum, and hopefully local clubs, to build on the excellent work that has already been done.

- Henry Simmons, Chief Executive, Alzheimer Scotland