Royal Victoria Hospital Meeting Centre

31/10/2025

Tin Can Ghosties… Genius! Looks like another frightfully ghoulish day connecting with witches and masked zombies at The Clubbie!

20/10/2025

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of the Chairperson of Meeting Centres Scotland, Ron Coleman. Ron was born into a working class family in Dundee in 1958, and would go on to have an extraordinary career that would see him impact the lives of hundreds of people around the world.

Working in the world of mental health recovery and advocacy, Ron set up the Hearing Voices network, and with his wife Karen, would go on to fight for the rights of people with lived experience of mental health issues in all corners of the globe, including working in Palestine and with First Nations People in Australia.

Upon receiving a dementia diagnosis, Ron had a remarkable adjustment through a newfound passion for creative arts. First writing poetry to deal with his new diagnosis and then going on to write two critically lauded plays that professionally toured Scotland. This then led to establishment of the world’s first dementia arts festival, where all the art was created by people living with dementia. The successful 3rd festival just took place in Striling last month.

Ron was also one of the founders of Deepness Dementia Media, which runs an online radio station where all the DJ’s have a dementia diagnosis, and the remarkable 100/6000 conference, an event where anyone without dementia is told on day one to “zip it!” and just listen to what people with dementia have to say.

It was through the 100/6000 conference that Ron first became involved in Meeting Centres. When he heard about a person-centred social model of support, it immediately resonated with the rights-based approaches Ron had worked with his whole life. Ron went on to set up a Meeting Centre in Stornoway and he would be one of the key drivers for us establishing Meeting Centres Scotland as the national network.

Next month we will be touring a documentary featuring Ron around Scotland. “The Demented Poets” tells the story of Ron’s creative disruption in world of dementia, and the impact he has had on so many lives. Dates and locations of the first screenings will be announced later this week.

Ron’s passing leaves a huge hole in the world, and our love and thoughts go out to Karen and Ron’s children. His fire will continue to light everything we do at Meeting Centres Scotland.

Ron Coleman 8/06/1958 – 19/10/25

Trailer 1 for the full-length Meeting Centres Scotland documentary "The Demented Poets"

12/10/2025

Thanks to Tayside Contracts for our dementia friendly signage and support

04/10/2025

Lots of luck to everyone for tomorrow but especially our very own colleague, Lorna Hart-Thomson as she takes on a half marathon in tomorrow’s Great Scottish Run. She is taking on this amazing challenge in support of the Meeting Centres across Scotland, of which The Clubbie is one of them and we are so very proud of her! If you can spare £5 to boost her total please do!

Help Lorna Hart-Thomson raise money to support Meeting Centres Scotland

02/10/2025

💬 Life at The Clubbie – September Highlights 🌱🎶

As the leaves begin to turn, The Clubbie has been full of conversation, creativity, and community spirit. This September, we welcomed 7 new members to our Meeting Centre at the Royal Victoria Hospital and had a total of 51 attendances – even with two sessions closed.

We were joined by 14 inpatient members, 1 community member, and 2 community carers, and while we said goodbye to 7 discharged members, we were pleased one has rejoined as a community attendee. Sadly, we also marked the loss of a much-loved member – our thoughts are with their family and friends.

🎵 Creativity, Connection & Conversation
This month, members enjoyed a rich variety of activities:

🎤 Sea shanties and storytelling with the wonderful Jan Bee – lots of toe-tapping, singing and even some spontaneous whistling!�🎨 A V&A workshop sparked memories of Dundee’s Valentine’s factory, with members reminiscing, chatting and painting personalised postcards.�🌼 Changing Seasons brought a touch of gardening joy – members painted pots and planted hyacinths for Christmas and daffodils for spring.

There was plenty of laughter, movement and memories shared – from balloon tennis and indoor curling to chair yoga and music quizzes. It’s been a pleasure to witness friendships blossom and confidence grow.

❤️ What People Are Saying
🔹 “It’s so good for Dad – he’s enjoying the company, the conversation and the activities.” – Family member�🔹 “It’s amazing to see the spontaneous peer support that develops between members.” – Staff volunteer�🔹 NHS Staff have noticed positive changes too: improved mood, better eating and drinking, and even more restful sleep for some of our attendees.

🤝 A Heartfelt Thank You
We’d like to acknowledge the continued collaboration with Wards 7 & 8 – especially their amazing Activity Coordinators, Maria and Moira. Your support with portering, communication, and encouragement has made a real difference.

We're also reflecting on how best to improve communication around member discharges and bereavements, and ensure everyone’s needs are well supported at The Clubbie.

🌟 A Moment That Mattered
One returning member’s family shared how he seemed physically transformed by the end of a session — arriving stooped and quiet, but leaving upright, smiling and full of life. “It was like a light had come on in him,” his daughter said. Moments like these remind us why The Clubbie matters.

It’s clear whether painting, planting or sharing stories from days gone by, The Clubbie continues to be a space where people with dementia and their families feel seen, supported, and uplifted.
Here’s to more memory-making in the months ahead 💜

25/09/2025

12/09/2025

🌟 The Clubbie at RVH – Weekly Round-Up! 🌟
�What a week it’s been at The Clubbie – full of changes, chats, sea shanties and community connection! 🎶💬

👥 We waved a warm goodbye to 6 of our lovely inpatient members as they were discharged – it's always bittersweet but also proud to be playing a part in their safe discharge home. Their absence has shifted the dynamic, but also opened new space to welcome more folks in.

✨ We now have 6 inpatient and 3 community spaces available on Fridays – with one new referral and another community enquiry already in the works! 📝

🗓️ Last week’s highlights included:
* 🎵 A brilliant Sea Shanty session with Jan Bee Brown from The Heart Meeting Centre in Newhaven!

* 👩‍⚕️ Jenny from Speech and Language Therapy joined us along with a medical student and library delivery – lots of learning and laughter 📚
* 🤝 Volunteers Inalegwu and Bazet spent meaningful time connecting with Bode, one of our new members – such heartwarming peer support ❤️
🙌 All 6 new volunteers are now PVG’d and cleared – a huge thank you to each of them! Training continues next week 💪

📌 Looking ahead:

* 🖼️ We’re thrilled to have the V&A visiting on 23 Sept – art and culture incoming!

* 💡 Planning continues and lots of positive conversations between Meeting Centre teams, ward staff and RVH Senior Management happening to make the centre even better for everyone.

🧡 As always, thank you to our amazing staff, volunteers, members, families and ward teams. Your support, smiles and stories are what make The Clubbie such a special place 💫

05/09/2025

One Month of The Clubbie — and What a Month It’s Been! 🌟

At Royal Victoria Hospital, our new Meeting Centre, The Clubbie is making a real difference for in-patients living with dementia.
In just our first month, we’ve welcomed 12 members and seen 76 attendances. Members are already coming regularly, helping to build genuine friendships and trust, both among members themselves and with the wonderful staff and volunteers who support them.

Members are becoming more confident, expressive, and engaged. They're making choices about what they want to do — and just as importantly, what they don’t. One member, who was visibly distressed in her early visits, has already had sessions where she was calm, smiling, and clearly at ease.

Feedback from NHS staff confirms what we’re seeing: this space is having a positive impact.
We’ve heard incredible comments like:
💬 “It’s such a cheerful place to come.”
💬 “I like meeting my friends here.”
💬 “We always get a laugh.”
💬 “I like the physical games — much better than sitting in the ward.”

Staff are noticing important changes too — including improved eating and drinking on days members attend.
From lively games and music to sharing memories and stories over old photographs, The Clubbie is fast becoming a place where our members can feel like themselves again — active, valued, and connected.

Congratulations on a tremendous start for everyone involved and especially to Centre Manager, Fiona Barrett and support practitioners, Pam and Janice! Here’s to many more months of laughter, dancing, and friendship at The Clubbie. 💛

30/08/2025

Your central point for information on the DVVA Social Inclusion services, and other groups and activities taking place across Dundee. Please see the videos and posts in the information section below for information about how to use the Padlet.

30/08/2025

What a heart-warming week it's been at The Clubbie. We've seen such wonderful progress, meaningful interactions, and lots of laughter.

💬 Family feedback has been incredibly touching — one relative shared how much brighter their loved one has seemed since joining the Clubbie. It’s a lovely reminder of how valuable these moments are for everyone involved.

🧠 We've noticed some beautiful changes in a few of our members who’ve now been coming regularly — less anxiety, more engagement, spontaneous smiles, and growing friendships. Members are now asking to do activities they enjoy, not just picking from what's on offer. That growing confidence means the world.

🎲 Activities this week have included:
Chocolate Krispie cake making (a hit!)
Balloon tennis 🏐
Chair yoga (with toe-tapping tunes 🎶)
Poetry readings 📖 (Pam Ayres got us giggling!)
Reminiscence boxes sparking joyful memories
Classic games like snakes and ladders and dominoes 🐍🎲

💬 One member surprised us with a thoughtful comment after quietly observing a discussion — a beautiful reminder that everyone engages in their own way and time. Another member even shared memories of their family football star, sparking lovely conversation and connection.

💪 We welcomed a few new faces this week and were so impressed by the peer support from longer-standing members. Watching someone who was once nervous now helping others settle in has been truly inspiring.

🎶 Music, laughter, and genuine moments of joy filled the space every day, from singing along to Elvis and Frank Sinatra, to thoughtful conversations over a cuppa.

We're so proud of the gentle, safe environment we're building together here at the Clubbie. Whether someone is joining in full swing or simply enjoying the atmosphere, every moment counts.

Here’s to more smiles, more stories, and more togetherness in the weeks ahead! 💛

09/08/2025

What a fabulous first week at “The Clubbie” as we opened to members for the first time.
Members joined us from Wards 6, 7 and 8 and we all enjoyed getting to know each other. Members enjoyed a fiercely competitive dominoes game, (we think we might need to introduce a league and maybe a ref!), taught Janice to play pool, enjoyed reminiscing about old Dundee and discovered that some of us went to the same school but not at the same time, remembered “duffers corner” and who duffed who ….. and rediscovered the joy of hairnets, mousetraps, bicycle clips and 60’s music…think you maybe had to be there!
On a less frivolous note, already we can see the benefit to members as one person who was quite distressed at the start of the session managed to remain and be engaged in the activities on offer through, support, reassurance and distraction by the team, returning to the ward much calmer. Ward Staff have fed back how much brighter members appear after coming to the meeting centre and for some it has improved their sleep, members have told us how much they have appreciated coming along this week and are looking forward to our next session.
Huge thanks as always to ward staff, to our wonderful volunteers Wendy and Sam and to Jennie K. SLT for helping us to make this week such a success.

21/07/2025

It’s a wrap!

The final open day on Friday saw yet another wonderful mix of visitors to The Clubbie, even more NHS Tayside staff keen to see the transformation of the old ward 1 day room into a vibrant and welcoming hub for inpatients living with dementia and families to find out how we can work together.

Over the three open days the Team welcomed over 70 patients, families, staff and other visitors, went through three huge cakes and countless biscuits, cups of tea, and coffee …and Janice and Pam were still smiling at the end of it. We had a ball and want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to come along and make the open days such a success and we look forward to working with many of you in the months and years to come.

If you didn’t make it to an Open Day but would like to learn what happens at The Clubbie then please just contact Centre Manager, Fiona to arrange a visit - fiona@meetingcentres.scot