About Golf In Society

Thank you for taking the time to find out more about our pioneering work. The best way to truly understand “what we do” and “why we do it” is to watch this short video…. pictures really do paint a thousand words !!!!

For the past three years we have been proving how golf can play an important part in the lives of families living with dementia & Parkinson’s disease.

Golf In Society is a social enterprise with a vision to improve the lives of our ageing population by introducing them to the health & wellbeing benefits of golf.

Our mission is to put golf clubs at the heart of local communities where people can come together to enjoy a full and active life.

Golf gets a lot of bad publicity but it’s one of the best leisure activities out there as it stimulates the mind, body & soul and can be enjoyed for a lifetime – no matter what challenges people face.

Our dream is to see our pioneering golf sessions “socially prescribed” as a service that facilitates healthy ageing and supports people with chronic illness, especially later in life.

In September 2015 we decided to put our mission to the test….

We launched our pilot project at Lincoln Golf Centre to prove what a positive contribution golf can make to the lives of families living with dementia. The results have been truly inspirational and given us the confidence to continue the mission.

In April 2016 we began our second pilot project – golf sessions for families living with Parkinson’s disease. Once again, the positive impact has been amazing to witness.

In our first three years we are very proud to have created the FIRST dementia friendly golf club and the FIRST Parkinson’s friendly golf club anywhere in the World. They continue to go from strength to strength.

Our most recent project, with the support of Life Changes Trust is to create the FIRST Dementia Friendly Golf Community in Scotland. Mearns Castle Golf Academy near Glasgow was selected for the pilot.  We started setting up the project in May and began delivering golf sessions in July. The project is already is proving to be a great success for the families we support and the local community.

Our plan is to fully evaluate the impact of our work and use the evidence gathered to develop a blueprint that will allow us to make our golf sessions available to families  throughout Scotland.

It’s been a challenging journey to get this far but it’s been worth every minute. Knowing that you’re making a real difference to people’s lives is what inspires us to make our vision a reality…

In the words of Walt Disney “If you can dream it, you can do it” and we’re dreaming big!

Anthony Blackburn – Founder (Golf In Society – TM)

TM