Memories Matter

Sir Michael Parkinson, Tony Robinson and Sir Terry Pratchett are among the celebrities joining party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg in launching the Alzheimer’s Research Trust campaign, Memories Matter.

Members of the public are invited to share their unforgettable moments – good, bad or otherwise – at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust website www.memories-matter.org or on Twitter using the #memoriesmatter tag. Memories from the public will be placed on the Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s Memory Wall, which will tour the country from September.

The Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s major new campaign draws attention to the memory loss experienced by the 700,000 people in the UK who live with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and how we could halt this: through research into new treatments, preventions and cures.

Here at in my prime we are constantly drawing attention to the many issues which are facing us all as we grow older and how they are intricately woven together but not yet fully understood. Life expectancy is increasing dramatically but that does not mean that the quality of our lives in later years will be all that we would wish. We need help in finding ways to overcome such debilitating conditions as Alzheimer’s and dementia whether it is through medical intervention or the continued mental stimulation that work, hobbies or our social interactions provide.

Check onto the websites included here and see if you can do your bit.

www.memories-matter.org

www.alzheimers-research.org.uk

Just who are we talking about?

As you may be very well aware Age Concern and Help the Aged have merged and, last Friday, we attended one of a series of presentations that they have been making around the country to bring on board their many members on the ground who do such valuable work. In addition, we also attended a workshop to consider what new name they should have and what image they should portray. It is here that they have a major dilemma.

Traditionally these charities have been associated with caring for the elderly and many of their workers and volunteers have this clearly in mind when considering their work and their investments of time and energy. However, it is also clear that management have in mind a broader remit, one which encompasses all people over 50 and, therefore opens up all kinds of other possibilities, in particular activities of a more commercial nature (but don’t mention Heyday whatever you do).

All we would say is tread very carefully. If it was ever true that being over 50 meant being elderly it is certainly not so now. As the charities themselves said there will, in future, be a sizeable minority of us who will live to be over 100. Nobody would ever dream of lumping together the first 50 years of our lives into one age category – and the same should apply to the second 50 years. Unless it is very careful the new charity runs the risk of not really fully understanding its own reason for being and in the process it will alienate supporters at all points in the age spectrum.

Not such a heyday

News of a long-predicted collapse that for once has nothing to do with the credit crunch. Heyday, launched as a rival to Saga in 2006 with £22m funding from Age Concern, is finally being wound up following a damning Charity Commission report on its governance. The report marked the final nail in the coffin for a venture which from the start was based on an “entirely flawed proposition” according to industry experts such as Kevin Lavery from specialist over-50s marketing agency Millennium. Quite rightly he commented that “you should never sell services to older people on the basis of age”.

Our own view from the outset was that not only is Heyday an appallingly twee name, but few individuals are likely to want to pay for something that is either already freely available through other sources (e.g. social networking and other websites) or already done far better by existing providers (e.g. Saga  and other commercial specialist interest magazines).

The most worrying aspect of the whole sorry debacle is the extent to which Age Concern who should, if anyone, possess a detailed understanding of the nature of the mature market, seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the over 50s do not – and never will – represent a single unified cohort . What appeals to one 50 year old will not necessarily appeal to another; what appeals to a 50 year old will not appeal to a 75 year old. People do not define themselves or their interests primarily on the basis of age.

The fact that Age Concern (newly amalgamated with Help the Aged) is in a hugely influential position in terms of providing policy and advice to government and other key bodies and yet can have such a blinkered and unrealistic view of its own customer base is deeply disturbing. What other misguided and fatally flawed initiatives are going to result?

Let’s hear it for embarrassment

Some words have incredible resonance. Wisdom, optimism, resilience.  They mean a lot; they make you stop and think.  In the midst of the onslaught of information we’re all subjected to on an hourly basis, it’s good to be challenged.

On such word, and one that you don’t see too often in the media, crossed my radar this week. Embarrassed. Now that’s a word that flags you down with all the impact of an elephant at a tea party. It was raised in a Daily Express report relating the fact that this week Iceland sent over a container load of woollen jumpers, socks and blankets to keep our pensioners warm. This followed an appeal on an Icelandic radio show after a recent Daily Express story had warned that up to one in 12 UK pensioners could die this winter because of the cold weather.

In the Daily Express report Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser for Help the Aged, said: “It is a scandal that the UK Government has proved so incapable of keeping our older people warm that other countries have felt the need to help out. While it is very generous of the people of Iceland to send warm clothing, the UK Government should be ashamed that in the fifth richest nation of the world our older people have to rely on the charity of others. It’s high time the Government tackled the national embarrassment of fuel poverty once and for all.”

The Daily Express crusade Respect for the Elderly has called on the Government to ensure that pensioners can keep warm through the winter by increasing pensions and fuel payments. “In my prime” calls on everyone in the UK to be highly and permanently embarrassed about the way we treat our old people – and to do something about it.

The loaves and fishes job market

Interesting news about a new service which enables organisations to sell the time of their staff.

Called StaffShare, http://www.staffshare.co.uk/home/index.html it allows organisations to register individuals, who could be under-utilised or at risk of redundancy, on a website offering their services on short- or medium-term secondment basis. Organisations interested in an employee, which will initially be restricted to charities and the voluntary sector, can then buy their services for the selected period through the website.

The scheme has been welcomed by the TUC with general secretary Brendan Barber commenting: “StaffShare is part of a new approach that is needed if we are to avoid the waste of talent and human tragedies that occur if companies rush prematurely into redundancies when conditions start to get tough. This will keep people in employment while allowing third sector organisations to draw on specialist expertise.”

StaffShare is a fully automated interactive system, which allows organisations to sell and buy the time of skilled professionals including, but not exclusive to Financial Controllers, HR Managers, Marketing Executives, IT Professionals, Web Designers and Grant Writers.

We think it’s a great idea and one that should be seized upon by all sectors in respect of all types and levels of jobs. It could, on a long-term basis, solve many of the problems of older workers and the gap which exists between our wants and needs for work (i.e. generally to work longer but on a more flexible basis) and those of employers (who want us, if at all, to work full-time and then retire – generally early).

But no doubt such a scheme would be beset with tax, pensions, health and safety and goodness knows what other bureaucratic issues which ultimately would strangle it in its infancy.

At the very least let’s hope this idea is only the start of a whole raft of recession inspired schemes about how to share out work and rewards more fairly and profitably for all. If this happened, and some were adopted, the recession could be ultimately a very good thing.

Hands around the world

We are constantly amazed and impressed by the range of activities that in my primers embark upon both at home and abroad and the huge amount they contribute to society as a result. This month we feature details of a project in Uganda which is not only improving the situation of an entire community but, on a personal level, is enriching the lives of the volunteers who participate in the project. Jenny, one of the project volunteers, tells her story:

“This time last year I decided to join a project team going to the village of Siriba in Uganda in January 2008 for the charity Hands Around the World. The purpose of the project was to build a classroom block next to Siriba’s existing primary school and so provide space for vocational training (carpentry, brickwork, tailoring) for youngsters who have completed primary education (often a few years later than in the UK) but whose families cannot afford the costs of secondary school.  In fact a large number of the youngsters are orphans who have come south in recent years to escape the ongoing rebel activity in the north of the country – they have almost nothing except the goodwill of extended family or complete strangers who have taken them in.

Well, the January 2008 project team worked with local volunteers to build the classroom block and now it is now being put to some use.  But it isn’t fully complete or equipped yet and also the classrooms of the existing primary school are in a dreadful state - partly through lack of funds and partly because they are used by four or five times as many children as originally intended.  They desperately need substantial repairing and one block needs a roof!

So what’s happening now? Currently Hands Around the World is recruiting a small team from Hertfordshire to go to Siriba in August 2009 for four weeks.  The team will raise funds for the project and travel to Siriba to work alongside volunteers from the local community.  If you or anyone you know may be interested in a challenging and life-changing experience  all ages are being considered, as well as all levels of building experience (although building and DIY skills are extremely useful!).  Volunteers will also need to have enthusiasm for fundraising during the first half of 2009 – as a team and/or individually.”

For more information about the charity and its projects visit the Hands Around the World website (www.hatw.org.uk) or email Jenny (jennifer@jwiles4.wanadoo.co.uk) for details of the information and team selection day planned for Sunday 23rd November in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

Time for tea

The over 50s have traditionally been the ‘giving back’ age group and although these days most of us are still rushing about, busier than ever, nothing has changed in terms of the time devoted to others. Huge numbers of in my primers are involved in a staggeringly wide range of charitable and voluntary activities without which the world would be a much poorer place (in all senses). Although we’re particularly impressed by those of a certain age who are still fit and frisky enough to be running marathons, scaling mountains, bungee jumping and the like, all in the name of fundraising, we also reckon that there’s plenty still that can be done without such exertions.

Drinking tea and eating cake is a pretty good activity at the best of times so when we heard about Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Blooming Great Tea Party campaign we felt we just had to pass on the news. The campaign, which runs until the end of July, is about getting people to hold their own tea parties to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations. The party could be anything from tea with friends to an elegant high tea – the ideas are endless. All tea parties, however big or small, will help provide free Marie Curie Nursing care for local people with terminal illnesses in their own homes and the charity’s hospices.

If you would like to hold your own tea party, please call 08700 340 040 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty for your free Blooming Great Tea Party fundraising pack.