“SOME people would think you shouldn’t put an 18 movie on for elderly people. And I think, why not?

“Do they think you reach 65 years of age and start knitting?”

Keith Mitchell, 50, or “Mitch” as he is known, manages three day centres run by Glasgow Old People’s Welfare Association (Gopwa) that provides a lifeline from loneliness for hundreds of elderly people across the city,

He is based at the Fred Paton Centre in the city’s West End, which sees more than 50 elderly people every day.

Yes, there are dominoes and bingo but there is also DJs and dancing, art classes and the odd movie as well as a daily home-cooked meal, all for a fiver. Pensioners can also enjoy a nip of whisky if the mood takes them.

“People who don’t understand, tend to stereotype old people.” Keith says. “And nothing could be further from the truth.

“If I was to put on Gone Girl. I can guarantee people would say, I’m not sure you should be showing that.

“We have got to move away from a matriarchal form of care. Sometimes there is a tendency to do that with people affected by dementia. Carers may think: ‘I need to tell you what to do’ but that’s not true.

“I always say to the service users, this isn’t my centre, it’s your centre so you tell us what you want. And that’s what they do.”

Keith has been with Gopwa for 20 years after falling into elderly care “by accident” and discovering the rewards of working with a group of people whom he says are often just grateful for a bit of your time.

He says: “Somebody suggested I try this and I found I enjoyed it. I just like people. I have great banter with them and they just respond.

“I don’t think you need to have any more patience to work with elderly people than anyone else and in some cases less.

“The biggest difference in elderly care from when I first started is that all staff need some sort of training in social care.

“When I started, the basic premise was, you had a good personality, you are kind, you like people.”

He used to oversee all five day centres run by Gopwa but then the charity, like many others across Scotland, fell victim to council budget cuts.

With a funding gap of around £180,000, they had not option but to close the Gatehouse centre in Anniesland, and the Donald Dewar Centre in Yoker in September last year after more than two decades.

Keith says: “Those were the ones that were registered with the Care Commission.

“Then the Fred Paton Centre opened in its current guise, which is a lower-level centre.

“It means that the people who attend do not have as acute a cognitive or physical incapacity as they catered for at the other centres.

“We sat down with the social work department when the centres closed and we were able to determine who could come and who would have to move to a higher level of care - run by the council.

“The biggest difference is that we had buses with escorts. Now, the driver is also the escort.

“That limits the physical incapacity that we can bring in.

“They have got to be able to make their way from their house to the van. When it comes to cognitive incapacity, there’s no line in the sand.”

Earlier this year, the charity’s much loved chief executive, Sheena Glass MBE, retired at the age of 78 after more than 30 years.

A new interim head has been appointed to help plan for the future and ensure the charity can respond to the challenges ahead:a far greater demand from an increasing elderly population on a much tighter funding budget, with an ever increasing number of charities competing for funding.

Included in the plans, put forward by interim chief Morag McIntosh, is a dedicated day at the centres for people with dementia, if lottery funding can be secured, with more staff who are specifically trained in their care. At the moment, the centre can only cater for those in the earlier stages of the disease.

Keith says: “We can take people with dementia, it’s just how that dementia manifests itself.

“There are probably about 30% in here with a level of dementia.

“We had a lady in with onset dementia and her nephew brings her in. He brought her in with low expectations and she now attends five days a week.

“She’s got a whiteboard in her house with her schedule written up. She gets up and she sees what she’s doing that day.

“People get stimulation, physically and mentally.

“There is one man, he was very reclusive when he first came. But now, if we asked him to abseil down the building he would do it.

“Some people just come in to read the paper. It’s having someone else there to just share the news with.”

A CHARITY that provides a lifeline for thousands of lonely pensioners has put out a desperate plea for help.

Glasgow Old People's Welfare Association (GOPWA) says it desperately needs a new minibus.

Backed by the Evening Times, the charity had dedicated this year's annual fundraising drive (from October 1 - 8) to funding a new van so that it continue to transport pensioners to three of its day centres.

We are hoping to persuade local businesses, schools and readers to get on board and help ensure that no OAP in the city faces life alone.

To help GOPWA raise its target of £26k, visit the charity's Justgiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/karen-moyes1