A new initiative from Contact the Elderly will link primary school pupils with isolated older people

A pilot pen pals project aimed at connecting youngsters and pensioners is set to launch.

The fifth Stirling Soup took place at Stirling Rugby Club on Friday 18 May.

Contact the Elderly were selected as the winners of the funding initiative.

The charity will use its £425 winnings, for being deemed to have delivered the best funding pitch on the night, to set up an initiative linking up local primary schools with guests from its local tea party groups.

Morna O’May, the charity’s head of service for Scotland, said the money will be used to launch the project in Forth Valley.

She said: “Pupils and our guests will be able to write to each other, sharing stories, learning from each other and having the pleasure of sending and receiving hand-written letters. This will strengthen links within our local communities and ultimately help to end the social isolation and loneliness that Contact the Elderly is combatting every day.

“We already have primary school children and older folks really keen to start writing to each other and we are looking forward to seeing how this pilot develops.”

Soup organiser Liam Miller said the pitch had captured the audience’s attention.

He said: “Morna’s pitch for Contact the Elderly reminded us that human beings are, ultimately, social beings. In under four minutes she painted a vivid picture of how loneliness can affect older people and issued a call to action for us to speak to, write to and engage with our elderly population. We congratulate Morna and look forward to hearing how she used the winner’s pot to fund the intergenerational project at our next Soup.”

In a Stirling Soup first, there was also a prize for second place, after a donation of £207 from Creative Stirling was received. The money was handed to PLUS Forth Valley, who will use the funding to publicise its work.

Soup 6 is due to take place in September, with updates being provided on the event’s Facebook page.