Starting conversations We first got together in early 2014 and following a series of meetings a local working group came together to develop a plan for Dementia Friendly Haddington. Members included Knox Academy, Haddington Day Centre, Market Court, RVS, John Gray Centre, ELC and local residents. Members of the group undertook training, spoke to local shops and businesses and ran a Dementia Friendly Haddington event in the Haddington Day Care Centre.

As East Lothian’s county town, Haddington has also hosted many of our countywide Gatherings with Haddington always well represented. Gatherings were essential in shaping two East Lothian Dementia Strategies, connect with Area Partnerships and Local Plans, and introduce the Meeting Centre approach to the region.

Exploring the Meeting Centre Approach In late 2024, we turned our focus to whether Haddington wanted to develop a Meeting Centre. Using an Asset-Based Community Development approach, we asked ourselves: What makes Haddington a strong community? What would make it even better? And what do we need to make it happen? People highlighted the town’s warm community spirit, while also identifying the real need for better rural transport and accessible local support. [link to blog]

Community in conversation We met in early 2025 to map community asset and tackle the challenges. Stigma around dementia remains a major barrier to people being included in the community. This distance and even fear, can exacerbate the negative impact of dementia on people with dementia and carers. Stigma is preventable. We started to talk about other groups living with stigma – people with disabilities, old people, young people, different ethnic groups and the LGBTQ+ community.

This took us into a new direction, broadening our focus beyond dementia to healthy happy brains for everyone, across the whole lifespan. This opened up a positive and open conversation about brain health and created real enthusiasm about what we could do s a community. It sparked curiosity about our brains, other people’s brains, how they work and how we look after them.

Happy Healthy Brains Across 2025–2026, a working group came together to link our community findings directly into the East Lothian Dementia and Carers’ Strategies. This led to a six-month development project—Happy Healthy Brains, which grew into Happy Healthy Haddington as the conversation grew. It was led by Loreen Pardoe for Dementia Friendly East Lothian and the East Lothian Intergenerational Network.

After the meeting, a lot of networking and talking to people round r=the community and support from the working group led to us developing:

• Weekly Drop-ins: To keep the conversation onwards, from January to the end of March 2026, we ran weekly Brain Health pop-ins at the Haddington Athletic Youth Football Club clubhouse. We also ran a ‘Pop Up’ at The John Gray Centre. These informal sessions welcomed unpaid carers, people living with dementia, local councillors, and community groups to share a cuppa, try different activities, share experience and be out and about in the community. Organisations dropped in, including Ageing Well who ran a pilot for a new inclusive walking group from the Club.
• Haddington Community Day: On 28 February 2026, we hosted the Healthy Happy Haddington Community Day at the Corn Exchange, running alongside the Farmers Market. It was a vibrant, buzzing morning attended by 400 to 500 people of all ages and featuring over 30 local organisations. Highlights included performances by the Pencaitland Community Choir, the Haddington Library Bookbug, a lively dance session from Senior Movements, an interactive Play Zone, and free Powers of Attorney and Wills advice from local solicitors McDougall McQueen.

What We Learned & What’s Next Conversations about dementia in the Haddington Area have evolved over 12 years and involved a range of different groups of all ages. Using an Assets Based Community Development Approach the initial conversation about dementia and Meeting Centres tapped into a larger conversation in the Haddington Area about how happy and healthy everyone’s brain is. We saw that in the success of the Community Day where community groups came to share their passions and find new recruits, and people from across the Area came inside to find out more.There was an authentic energy about the day. Some people were curious, discovering what’s happening on their doorstep, there got practical advice and information others met and made friends as they took in all the stalls, each representing a group of people making a difference in their community.

In May 2026, we gathered with local people to talk about the last few months and what might happen next. People wanted to stay connected and there was enthusiastic support for building a lasting local network to “join the dots” across services, share learning, and keep Haddington healthy, happy, and connected.

Over to you Happy Healthy Haddington!