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Shinty Legend John MacKenzie Is New Memories Ambassador | |
18 March 2015 John MacKenzie, one of shinty’s greatest ever players, is to be the first Ambassador for a ground-breaking health initiative making use of one of Scotland’s oldest indigenous sports. Alzheimer Scotland and the Camanachd Association have set up a special project for people living with dementia and other memory problems. Called “Shinty Memories”, it uses images of old players, teams, badges, trophies, grounds and memorabilia to improve recall, stimulate conversation and share memories of shinty. Alzheimer Scotland has several Reminiscence Networks, covering football, rugby, shinty, golf and cricket, as well as movies. The highly successful Football Memories project started out in the Falkirk area back in 2004, and is now well-established all across Scotland, from Stranraer to Shetland. There are almost 100 “teams” in the Alzheimer Scotland Football Memories League and each has chosen its own name and colour. Each group has a trained football memories volunteer and a member of Alzheimer Scotland staff in attendance. The Shinty Memories project follows a similar pattern. The work being done through the Memories projects has been featured on TV and radio and has attracted interest from within the UK as well as from abroad, notably from Spain and the USA. In the existing groups in Day Centres and Care Homes, there are several examples of the reminiscence therapy having a significant effect on individuals concerned. The names, the matches and the stories are all triggered by the images. Famous players, memorable finals and funny stories are all remembered with fondness and affection. Alzheimer Scotland and the Camanachd Association have produced a Starter Pack of 100 images for use in the groups and material is being prepared in Gaelic and English. There is a Facebook site (Memories Shinty Club) and a Twitter feed (@memoriessc) which have attracted a huge following. There are over 1,300 Followers on the Facebook site. This is way ahead of the corresponding Football page and shows the potential in this Shinty venture. Each Memories project has an Ambassador and we are delighted that Shinty legend John MacKenzie MBE of Newtonmore, a former internationalist and manager of the Scottish shinty team and past Camanachd Association President, has agreed to be the Shinty Ambassador. Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan is assisting Alzheimer Scotland with their shinty project and he said, “John MacKenzie’s iconic status within the game and his knowledge of the shinty community will be invaluable to the project as we develop its work. The impact of the groups so far has been remarkable, and the demand being created means that we will have to build up our resources as quickly as possible. This is a highly cost-effective way of helping people living with dementia in all our sporting communities, and I am delighted that shinty has been at the forefront of the developments.” Alzheimer Scotland’s Reminiscence Networks, which include shinty, are managed from Hampden Park Glasgow. For further information, or to arrange a visit to a group in your area or club, please contact Sheila Connell, either by phone on 0141 410 1062 or e-mail, sconnell@alzscot.org
(Picture of John MacKenzie is from the Donald MacKay collection. It was 1979 Sports Photograph of the Year in 1979 and it features MacKenzie in full flight in shinty’s show-piece game the Camanachd Cup Final. Also in the picture is Tommy Nicolson of Kyles Athletic. |