FORMER professional footballers attended the ‘Sporting Memories’ session at Dyneley House Surgery in Skipton.

Gareth Seddon, former Bury FC and Salford City striker, talked about his career as a professional footballer.

And Mike Hellawell, former Queens Park Rangers and England ‘outside right’, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday was a member of the crowd who went along to meet and chat about old times.

Following the appointment of a Minister for Loneliness in January, Prime Minister, Theresa May has announced the Government’s strategy to tackle loneliness. Sporting Memories which helps people who might be socially isolated to meet new people in a safe, friendly environment has been meeting at the surgery’s Dyneley Barn facility since March.

Antony Radley, practice manager said: “We know that there are lots of people living on their own who might not see anyone from day to day. So, creating an environment where people can have a cup of tea and a chat with their mates makes a lot of sense in terms of maintaining good mental health, and sometimes, we even have cake.

" The Government says that 200,000 older people have not had a conversation with a friend or relative for over a month, so while you wouldn’t normally associate this type of activity with a doctors’ practice, we wanted to set up this group as we really want to make a difference for people who might be experiencing loneliness living in our community.”

The next sporting memories session takes place at the surgery on Thursday, November 15 between 2pm and 3.30pm. All welcome.