Net gains for older people
In the run up to National Older People’s Day on Friday (1 October), Warwickshire County Council is launching new web pages to promote the ten older people’s forums and Senior Citizens Action Networks (SCANs) situated around the county’s five districts.
The aim is to encourage a new generation of members to their groups who are more accustomed to accessing information from the internet as well as providing opportunities to have their say about issues which affect older people within their community.
There is an older people’s forum in Rugby who have vital roles in shaping services for older people in their area, liaising with their communities and feeding back to the county council on what services their members need and value, as well as ensuring that members of the forum have access to all the information they need in their daily lives.
Regular meetings encourage people aged over 50 to come together, make friends and get involved with interests and projects within their communities.
Older people throughout the district have benefited from social groups with many finding a new lease of life with dancing groups and sports groups making healthy lifestyles easier and more enjoyable.
Andrew Cowan, speaking for Rugby Counsel for Older Residents (CORE), said: “The website is a necessary development to ensure that we continue to make our services, and those of the county council, known to people who are increasingly used to dealing with computers but are now at a point in their lives where additional help is valuable in enabling them to get the most out of life.
“The Rugby CORE meets every month and is chance to have a speaker who will be informative on a subject that is of major importance to older people in the borough, and be able to absorb our views. The CORE is not just about us being spoken to. It is our opportunity to get things off our chests and make our voice heard. This autumn, we hope fresh faces will help us drive some novel projects.”
“It is not just about dealing with day to day practicalities. There is also a social element. We go for lunches and visit restaurants and if there are people in Rugby who go online and see what we offer, we will welcome seeing them in the flesh at CORE meetings and hopefully socially afterwards.”
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, portfolio holder for adult services with Warwickshire County Council, said: “We look at every means of reaching older people. As a generation that is used to finding out information via the web reaches the age of 50, we have moved forward to providing sites for them identifying specialist services for older people in their area.
“We offer a lot of help and support to older people, from care in the home or at day care through to low-level support to help older people in Warwickshire to live independently and enjoy a greater quality of life.”