Central Police are great

Holiday fortnight and things get much busier at PEP. Every summer we run a month long summer programme for older or vulnerable people who wouldn't otherwise enjoy a holiday: as usual the programme comprises a mix of day trips & picnics (Peebles, The Safari Park, Haddington, Culross, Stirling etc.) , learning classes (Ikebana, Fit n'Fun, Edinburgh's Old Town) and social occasions (Strawberry Tea, It's a Knockout, Mystery Tour etc.) Nothing costs more than £3 and everything is always oversubscribed. Last year over 200 people took advantage of the opportunity and this year it looks like there will be a lot more - the staff have to work extra hard but it feels worth it when you get phone calls saying as one old lady did, 'I have never laughed so much - it was the best fun.' We 'lost' a passenger last week: the first ever and it certainly caused a stir - she thought she had missed the rendezvous time and jumped on a bus back to Edinburgh. Meanwhile, we report her as a missing person. Central Police and Stirling's traffic wardens are brilliant, checking CCTV, birling round the town centre in police cars looking out for a 75 year old lady, short, with white hair, dressed in navy (I ask you - anybody could fit that description). They couldn't be faulted: she turned up safe and well: and we have revised our policies so that all passengers carry details of our emergency number so if they get separated they can always reach us...who said getting old made life any less exciting?