First Forum Lets Older People Speak Out

Copyright NNDC

Picture: Roy Haynes, NNDC Champion for Older People, welcomes everyone to the Forum on 14 June

The Older People's Forum on 14 June attracted about 60 people, who took part in discussion groups and talked with a panel of representatives from North Norfolk District Council, Norfolk County Council Social Services, the North Norfolk Primary Care Trust, and the police, about how the quality of life could be improved for people of middle age or older.

Issues such as rural transport, access to information, health, adult education, leisure, pensions, and the fear of crime were discussed in depth, and ideas which arose will be used to help build a Community Strategy for North Norfolk - a plan which outlines what people and organisations think it should be like to live in the area over the next 15 years.

Other concerns included the need to involve younger people in re-building community spirit, by ensuring that younger people can get housing and employment in the area, and bridging the age gap so the young and old can better understand each other.

A majority of people felt the forum, which was organised by the North Norfolk Health Forum and hosted by NNDC, should become a regular event.

A full report on the forum is being prepared, and the results may be used at a county, regional, and even Central Government level (through the Cabinet Office's Better Government for Older People initiative).

NNDC Policy Officer Margaret Drury said: "It has long been felt that older people do need a voice. People haven't missed their chance, even if they missed the first forum. They can still get involved."