Celebrating the power of social connections as we get older
Buckinghamshire Council has staged an event today (Thursday 2 October) to celebrate the role older people have in making their community a better place to live, work and age. It’s in recognition of the United Nations International Day of Older People (IDOP) which has taken place this week (1 October).
This year’s theme is Building Belonging: Celebrating the Power of our Social Connections.
In partnership with Age UK Buckinghamshire, today’s event celebrated the work on the Age Friendly Bucks Programme and how it’s working to create inclusive, supportive environments where residents can live healthy, active, and connected lives as they get older.
Attendees shared insights into what ageing well means to Buckinghamshire residents and explored ways to strengthen the Age Friendly Bucks programme through working collaboratively.
The event was attended by a range of partners including voluntary, community and faith organisations, NHS and council colleagues.
Isobel Darby, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health at Buckinghamshire Council, said:
"Our first stakeholder event to mark International Day of Older People was a great success with 65 partners in attendance. We received really positive feedback about the benefits of meeting and networking, and a real desire to continue working together and sharing information.
"As a council we are doing all we can to make Buckinghamshire a great place to age, so everyone has the chance to thrive, stay involved, feel valued and enjoy good lives in our community – now and in the future.
"Through joint working, we can build even stronger age friendly communities and create inclusive and supportive environments, and this is demonstrated by the Healthy Ageing Strategy and the age well element of our new Bucks Health and Wellbeing strategy which sets out our ambition to be more age friendly.
"We also have the Healthy Ageing Fund, supporting local organisations deliver projects to increase social connectedness, the Challenging Ageism toolkit and training, which aims to tackle ageism, change narratives, and promote an inclusive society for all ages and our updated Staying Connected Guidance."
Councillor Isobel Darby, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health at Buckinghamshire Council (L) with Councillor Carol Heap, Deputy Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing (R)