A peer supporter sharing a plain-language health guide with an older resident in a community library

What we do, and why it matters.

Peer connection, plain information, and a human presence in the spaces formal healthcare doesn't always reach.

The bigger picture

Working in the spaces between formal healthcare.

The practical reality of managing a long-term condition in Edinburgh is shaped by factors that clinics rarely have time to address: the tenement stair that makes leaving the flat painful on a cold morning; the appointment letter that uses words nobody explained; the prescription that has changed again and you are not sure why. Vibrant Health Advocates - Alpha works in the spaces between formal healthcare, providing the peer connection and plain information that help older residents make sense of their conditions and remain as active and confident as possible.

We do not replace GPs, practice nurses, or community health workers — we work alongside them, and we are increasingly valued by local statutory services as a trusted community partner. Each week across eight Edinburgh neighbourhoods, our drop-ins bring together people who might otherwise spend days at a time without meaningful social contact.

These are not passive sessions where information is delivered at participants — they are facilitated conversations where experience is shared, questions are taken seriously, and the knowledge that other people are managing the same challenges is itself a form of medicine. Our befriending programme extends that human connection into the weeks between sessions, ensuring that the people most at risk of isolation — those who are housebound, recently bereaved, or recovering from a health crisis — have a reliable, caring presence in their lives.

Everything we do is underpinned by our commitment to plain, honest health information: the kind that respects people's intelligence while acknowledging that medical language is a barrier most of us never asked to face.

Older adults in animated conversation over tea at a community drop-in session
Drop-in session, Leith
60+ trained volunteers
Our programmes

Four programmes. One consistent purpose.

Each programme addresses a different dimension of what it means to live well with a long-term condition in Edinburgh.

Neighbourhood Drop-In Sessions

Weekly peer-led gatherings in community venues across Edinburgh where older residents living with long-term conditions can connect, share, and learn.

Sessions run on fixed days each week in eight neighbourhoods including Leith, Gorgie, Portobello, Tollcross, and Craigmillar. Each session is facilitated by a trained peer supporter — someone who has their own lived experience of managing a chronic condition — and typically draws between eight and eighteen participants. No referral is needed; people can simply turn up. Tea and light refreshments are always provided, and sessions are fully accessible.

One-to-One Befriending

Volunteer befrienders matched with isolated older adults for regular, consistent contact — visits, walks, or phone calls — built around what the individual actually wants.

Befriending matches are made thoughtfully, taking into account neighbourhood, interests, health background, and availability. Volunteers commit to at least one contact per week for a minimum of six months, providing the consistency that makes genuine trust possible. Our befriending coordinator provides ongoing support and training to volunteers throughout the match, and every participant receives a welfare check-in from staff once a month. For people who are housebound or anxious about going out, telephone befriending offers the same quality of connection.

Plain-Language Health Information

Practical, jargon-free guides on managing specific long-term conditions, co-produced with members and reviewed by NHS Lothian clinical staff.

Our current library covers type 2 diabetes, heart failure, COPD, chronic pain, and hypertension — five of the most prevalent conditions among our membership. Each guide is written at an accessible reading level, printed in large format, and available digitally as a screen-reader-compatible PDF. We hold regular 'information mornings' at drop-in venues where members can work through guides with a peer supporter and ask questions in real time. New topics are added each year based on member feedback.

Health System Navigation Support

Practical help for older residents who feel overwhelmed by appointments, letters, referrals, and the general complexity of engaging with health and social care.

Our navigation support is not advocacy in a legal sense — we do not represent people in formal processes — but we do help members understand what a letter from the hospital actually means, how to request a medication review, and what their rights are under their GP practice's reasonable adjustment policy. We work in close partnership with NHS Lothian's Health in Mind service, Edinburgh's Carers groups, and Age Scotland, so that when someone needs a level of support beyond our remit, we can make a warm, joined-up referral rather than simply handing over a phone number.

Health information session in progress
Information morning, Portobello
Drop-in session participants laughing together
Weekly drop-in, Gorgie
Befriender and older man on a walk
Befriending, Leith Walk

Our volunteers make every session possible.

Become a volunteer