"Full of life" events celebrate UK older People's Day

Monday, 14 September 2009

Here in the UK we have our own Older People's Day on Thursday 1 October to coincide with the UN International Day for Older People.

The special celebration of older age is now in its third year and the organisers want to get as many people involved as possible. Last year there were 900 local "full of life" events across the UK at which 50,000 took part. It proved to be a great opportunity for people of all ages to get together and appreciate the positive role that older people play in society at some very varied events including tea dances, allotment projects and exercise classes among many others.

This year the organisers plan to build on the theme of "bringing generations together" encouraging participants to be active in their own communities and getting to know people of all age groups.

It is such a good idea to strengthen our local communities in this way and help older people pass on their particular expertise and experience so that younger people can be encouraged and supported by excellent adult role models.

What a great way to challenge those outdated and restrictive stereotypes about older people and promote mutual understanding and respect between the generations!

As part of the Uk day there will be another "Age, Snapped exhibition" which, last year, was a huge success, challenging stereotypes and giving a positive slant to older age. It was deeply inspiring with photographs of inspirational people who have achieved their greatest aspirations during retirement and have made great and valuable contributions to their communities.

This year there will be even more photographs and an even bigger exhibition with free admission to the public. It will run for two weeks from Tuesday 22 September to Friday 2 October at the London College of Communication in the Upper Street Gallery in the Elephant and Castle in south east London. As it runs concurrently with Older People's Day on 1 October there will be a VIP reception for Government ministers and delegates from leading charities with professional photographers present.

To mark the special day, there has been a special competition for UK secondary school pupils who have been asked to submit photographs of their favourite and most inspiring older person. These could be a family member, teacher or football coach for example. The best photographs will be selected by a panel of experts and these will be enlarged to be included in the exhibition. The winners will be invited to London at the launching of their photographs, with their school receiving a special masterclass in photography.

  What's this?