News
Finalists announced - Awards for All Ages 2012
Some of Britain’s biggest social and economic issues are being tackled by intergenerational projects named in December as finalists of the 2012 Awards for All Ages. The pioneering projects are addressing loneliness, care for older people, housing, unemployment, ageism and fragmented communities with real imagination and impact.
The University of Strathclyde is participating in a European research project which aims to assist companies to better capitalise on older workers knowledge and skills.
SILVER is a project of the European Union coordinated by Inholland University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands) with partner organisations based in Finland, Germany, Greece, Romania and the UK.
We are keen to pilot this project in local organisations for a three month period. Your support would involve asking a small group of staff to become involved in the research project and to provide us with feedback on how you find it.
Company staff who participate in the project will receive £20 Amazon vouchers.
Involvement in the SILVER project is free to employers and research shows expected benefits to the organisation include:
- • increase in older workers’ employability through developing key competences
- • assure critical organisational knowledge and retention and reuse
- • contribute to younger workers’ learning and development
- • help embed sustainable innovation in organisations
If you are interested in getting involved or would like more information please contact Lynda Scott on 0141 548 4974.
Photo & Video Competition
In celebration of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations we are proud to announce our photo & video competition for amatuer photographers and filmmakers. The competition is for the Best photograph or video taken BY a younger or/and older person OF younger and older people working together, and should demonstrate the importantce of intergenerational connections.
There are two categories: PHOTO and VIDEO
The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) is an active citizenship programme that raises awareness among young people about philanthropy.
The initiative continues to develop and grow across Scotland, and we are delighted that Jonathan Christie, Scottish YPI Coordinator will be speaking at our next local network meeting in Forth Valley on Thursday 22nd November. This academic year YPI look forward to working with 81 secondary schools across 10 local authorities. If you'd like to come along to our meeting in Falkirk to hear Jonathan please contact alison@generationsworkingtogether.org.
FREE OF CHARGE GRUNDTVIG WORKSHOP “CREATIVE CHRISTMAS” in Poland
The workshop combines creativity and creative thinking with various Christmas traditions and techniques of preparing Christmas decorations. It is a unique chance to meet people from different countries and cultures, share experience and spend great time in Lublin – City of Inspiration.
- Time: December 3rd-9th, 2012
- Venue: Lublin, Poland
- Target group: people over 50,
- Accommodation and subsistence: fully provided by the workshop organizer
- Travel costs: reimbursed after participant’s arrival
The workshop is organised by “Initiative Fund” Foundation and is funded with support from the European Commission. Our workshop is totally free for participants – workshop organiser covers the costs of travel, accommodation, catering and workshop activities and materials for the accepted participants.
If you are willing to:
- share experience with people from other European countries
- enhance your creativity and creative thinking
- practice various handicraft techniques used for Christmas decorations
- get to know other cultures and Christmas traditions
- spend a unique week in Lublin – the City of Inspiration
The Beth Johnson Foundation would like to invite everyone who is over the age of 50 to take part in a short survey to help them collect information on the 2012 UK Older People’s Day theme of ‘Big Skills Share’. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete and will be open till 13th September 2012.
Going for Gold in Wick
Last month the Laurandy Centre held their own Olympic event. The idea came from the partnership between BHF (National Centre for physical activity) and NAPA (the national association for providers of activities for older people).
The partnership is designed to involve professionals and individuals in a care environment to take part in the legacy celebrations offered by the London 2012 olympic games and the world congress on active ageing in Glasgow.
At Laurandy we decided to do our own thing following the guidelines of The Go for Gold Challenge event. First of all we asked all the people in attendance if they were interested and asked them to sign up for the challenge. Each individual was offered a choice of activities and chose three that they felt were within their capabilities. The people who attend Laurandy have varying degrees of ability and many are very frail. We however wished to get the message across that the smallest of effort can be a challenge bringing the reward of improved health and well being. Several weeks of practice took place and this was recorded on the participants log leading up to the event. The gradual build up was necessary to monitor the health of individuals who were encouraged to let staff know how they were feeling before the practice and to only take part if they felt well enough to do so.
The event was a great success. Activities ranged from folding fifty knapkins, catching and throwing a ball fifty times, throwing a beanbag into a bucket at a specified distance, seating exercises and a table top skittles and hoopla competition. The challenges had to be witnessed as completed by the centre volunteers and care staff. Amanda Hutchison the care supervisor who coordinated the event said " We made a special day and created the atmosphere. Everyone involved had to undertake their chosen challenge and support was on hand from volunteers and staff". The medals were presented the following week.
Manager Margaret Allan said "This proved that any individual can improve on their physical fitness and abilities by the smallest of changes in their daily routine when feeling well enough to make this effort. Next time we hope to involve some younger people in our activities."
To view photos of the event click here...
Deadlines (16th Sept) looming for European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012 (EY2012) Awards
EY2012 organisers report that so far there are only 6 UK nominations for awards, which is a shame as this does not reflect the amount of fantastic work that is going on across Scotland by all of you, and by your networks of members, supporters, and volunteers.
The awards are:
1. The Workplaces for all Ages awards (improving conditions for older workers). This awards would be relevent for employers, trade unions, non-profit organisations who are promoting better working conditions.
2. Social Entrepreneurs awards (spreading examples and models of social entrepreneurship) This award would be relevent for individuals who are driving social change to tackle the challenges of ageing and strengthening solidarity between generations.
3. Reporting on Ageing and Relations between the Generations awards - an award for journalists who are informing the public about challenges and solutions.
4. Towards Age-Friendly Environments awards - an award for local and regional authorities who are creating better living environments for an ageing society.
5. Life Story Challenge. This award is about sharing inspiring stories about ‘active agers’ and is open to both young and old individuals jointly presenting an inspiring story about active ageing.
There is a cash prize for the winner of each category, and the finalists will be invited (with travel costs paid) to Brussels for the Awards Ceremony later this year.
Details of the awards, the different categories and links to entry forms and guidance are now on the official EY2012 website and can be found at: http://europa.eu/ey2012/ey2012main.jsp?catId=1026&langId=en
Truth About Youth is about challenging the negative stereotypes that exist about young people. This project, delivered by Young Scot and supported by the Co-operative Foundation, aims to challenge the way young people are perceived in society by promoting the positive contributions they make to their communities. Truth About Youth brings people of all ages together to have their say on Scotland's young people and to facilitate discussion which we hope will showcase the amazing things that young people are doing across the country. We are doing this through video content, blogs and intergenerational activities which give people a platform from which to share their views. We are also challenging the views of young people in the media through our Sunday Mail Truth About Youth Supplement.
For more information visit www.thepatter.org
Intergenerational Schools Project - generations@school
As of the 1st March, schools in Europe have been encouraged to foster intergenerational dialogue by inviting older people to meet young pupils around the European Day of Solidarity between generations on April 29th in order to share experience, fears and hopes for the future and reflect together on how to create a better society for all generations. A resource kit - aimed mainly at primary schools - has been developed to help teachers organise such debates as part of their curriculum. This activity is easy to organise and there will be an award scheme where the most innovative projects will be selected. For more information email:generationsatschool@paueducation.com
National Conference
