Our week of activity (30/09/24 to 04/10/24) in recognition of the International Day of Older Persons

Every year the 1st of October marks the United Nations International Day of Older People (IDOP). This is a day when across the word people "raise awareness of opportunities and challenges faced by ageing populations and mobilize the wider community to address difficulties faced by older people. (Centre for Ageing Better) 

We also use it as an opportunity to celebrate older people and recognise the important part they play in our communities. Older adults are an asset to communities. They contribute to the local economy. They take on community leadership roles. They contribute a wealth of skills, experience, and expertise.

In East Lindsey we are proud to be an Age-friendly Community and in recognition of IDOP we engaged in a week of awareness raising and activities in celebration and recognition of older people.  These were led by our Age-friendly Communities Officer Jane Berni and supported by our Volunteer Co-ordinator Alison Carlisle. 

We visited the Wragby Social Group and some of our local Age UK Friendship Groups. We talked about our Age-friendly commitment and our Age-friendly Ambassador Roles. If you are aged 50+ and live in East Lindsey then you could be one of our Age-friendly Ambassadors, please do contact us to find out more alison.carlisle@e-lindsey.gov.uk  or 07394 838346

Our Age-friendly Communities Officer said "It is always lovely to visit social groups, share a cuppa, a chat and maybe take part in a quiz or bingo. People have the most wonderful life stories to tell". 

We finished the week by hosting a special training event delivered by our colleagues from the Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Specialist Service (LDASS).  The Age-friendly Domestic Abuse (DA) Champion Training was organised and hosted by our Age-friendly Communities Officer and came about following discussions with colleagues in LDASS. DA Champion training has been delivered by LDASS multiple times previously, but this event was unique in that it included the opportunity to view the impact of domestic abuse through an Age-friendly lens.

Lincolnshire DA Champions are trained to spot the signs of danger and help those experiencing domestic abuse to get appropriate support from the police or Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Specialist Service.  Those trained at our event have the added benefit of understanding some of the unique issues faced by older people living with domestic abuse.

The event was a great success supported by Cllr William Gray, Portfolio Holder for Communities, Housing and Better Ageing. We had 70 attendees from a range of statutory and voluntary organisations, including some of our small community groups and dementia cafes. It was wonderful to see some of our Age-friendly Ambassadors taking part too.

"We were pleased to host this excellent training event delivered by LDASS. The day was truly informative and enlightening. I would like to thank the trainers for their professionalism and encourage more people to take part in this training." Cllr William Gray