Jam entrepreneur launches tea parties to entertain elderly

Now teenage entrepreneur Fraser Doherty has decided to keep up the tradition by launching his own series of tea parties for elderly people.

The young jam-maker, whose Super Jams brand sells in Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose and Asda, wants to give older people somewhere to meet up with one another and make new friends.

After recruiting a host of student volunteers to help with his Super Jam Tea Parties, he also hopes new friendships will be formed between young and elderly people.

Fraser, 19, first started making jam when he was just 14 to help raise some extra pocket money by selling it door-to-door. Made using his grandmother's recipe, his jams use super-foods like blueberries and ginger and are made with grape juice instead of sugar to make them even healthier.

Fraser, of Davidson's Mains, said: "When my gran made jam, she also made scones and cakes and took them to all the old folk in her area, where they were in care homes or house-bound.

"She would take my little brother and I along and we would have to play our musical instruments to entertain them.

"It was something we did growing up and we were brought up with entertaining elderly people.

"I thought it would be nice that now I'm in a position to do something, that I set up this charity."

The tea parties, which were launched today at Sighthill Community Centre, are to be rolled out across Edinburgh.

There will be an event at each venue at least once a month so the elderly people will have a regular afternoon out.

If the idea takes off, there could be several different tea parties held throughout the month in various halls and community centres across the city.

The idea is that the students and young volunteers will chat, play music and play games with the tea party guests to give them an entertaining afternoon.

Fraser, who expects between 30 and 40 people to attend each event, said: "It's about elderly people and young people coming together and having a party and learning about each other. The students who are involved are really excited about it.

"Eventually I hope there will be 20 or more events every month."

Help the Aged spokesman Lindsay Scott said Fraser's idea is a great way to bridge the inter-generation gap.

He said: "He has always made a big deal of the fact that he wouldn't be where he is today if he hadn't got these original recipes from his grandmother.

"It's great that he is giving something back to the older generation where he got that from.

"Older people have a lot to offer in terms of experience and memories.

"Young people are demonised a lot of the time so this is also a good way for older people to say that this is not true."