Celebrating Older People 1
IDOP 2017
Contents
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Page 3
Introduction
Page 4
IDOP 2017 Community Events Figures
Page 4
Caring Together in Woodhouse & Little London Community Cinema Evening
Page 5
Leeds Irish Health & Home Tabhair Dom do Lamh / Give me Your Hand
Page 6
St Anne’s Community Services “What makes us different makes us St Anne’s”
Page 8
West Yorkshire Playhouse/South Asian Arts Cultural Exchange Event
Page 10
Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association Trip to Holocaust Heritage and Learning Centre
Page 11
South Leeds Live at Home Scheme Diverse Communities Celebration
Page 12
Housing Leeds – Tenant Involvement Team Cultural Understanding
Page 13
Older Wiser Local Seniors (OWLS) Music and Song From Different Cultures
Page 14
Armley Helping Hands/Aspire Community Engagement Event
Page 16
Rothwell & District Gateway Promoting Positive Attitudes Concerning Adults with Learning Disabilities
Page 18
Burmantofts Senior Action/Shantona Asian Themed Celebration
Page 19
IDOP Steering Group & Credits
Introduction
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The International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) is held each year on the 1st October. 2017 marked the nineteenth year of celebrating the event in Leeds and a theme of Diversity of Older People was chosen. We left the definition of diversity open to allow organisations to interpret the theme using creative and interesting ways to highlight and celebrate the diversity of older people in Leeds through race, gender, age, physical abilities or religious beliefs. As always we had a large number of applications for the community grants which made the decision of who to award money to very difficult as the amount of money applied for far exceeded the amount we had to give. This year saw IDOP receive applications from organisations supporting homeless people and people with learning disabilities for the first time, which was really good to see and there are reviews on these events within this report. This report aims to give a good flavour of how IDOP was celebrated in Leeds and how different groups and communities came together to celebrate this city’s wide and wonderful diversity as well as celebrating the contribution made by older people living in Leeds.
Jack Anderson 1931-2017 Jack Anderson (left) was the Chair of Leeds Older People’s Forum from 1996 -2003 and did a lot to pioneer and promote the International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) in Leeds and served as chair of the IDOP Planning Group for a time in its early years. In 2007 The Jack Anderson Award was set up to recognise Jack’s achievements and dedication to develop services for older people in Leeds. The Award was to recognise individuals over the age of 60 who had achieved something special, or who were an inspiration in the field of engaging with their local community and improving the quality of life of older people. The Award ran until 2011 and during that time was an integral part of IDOP. Jack was a tireless worker, campaigner and advocate for better health and care provision, as well as the need for services for older people in Leeds whilst at the same time championing the importance of acknowledging the role of older people in society. Jack worked for many years for Leeds City Council Social Services/Adult Social Care before joining the Board of Leeds Older People’s Forum and was highly respected within both the statutory and third sector. Sadly Jack passed away earlier this year.
Facts & Figures
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Number of funded community events that took place during October Amount of money awarded to community events
16 £3160
Number of older people who attended the funded community events Number of Younger people who attended the funded community events
448 133
Intergenerational Afternoon Sing-a-Long Caring Together's members, staff and volunteers and of all ages came together to enjoy an interactive afternoon with the screening of Grease. Events such as this are thoroughly enjoyed by members. ‘It has been fun this afternoon with good company and laughter’, someone said, and another said, ‘it makes it worth the effort’. In addition, supported transport also makes a huge difference to our members, because for some they would not have been able to make it without. We hope to replicate the sing a long film theme for members again (funding, time and resources permitting) where we can, as they thoroughly got pleasure from it. They felt it brought a classic film to life, as this would not be something they would normally do at home when watching alone. They were smiling and humming the tunes as they left.
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Tabhair Dom do Lamh / Give me Your Hand Tabhair Dom do Lamh is the name of a famous lively Irish tune which expresses Irish friendship and hospitality. The Gaelige title captures the Irish welcome theme and with this in mind Leeds Irish Health and Homes invited the residents of the Anchor Housing sheltered housing complex next door to the centre , the Asian group which uses the facility on a Wednesday and Leeds Jewish Welfare’s Older peoples group to the event. The Older Irish community gave a warm welcome to the visitors from, the Punjabi community and from Mary Sunley House. Our Jewish friends couldn’t attend on the day as they had a big funeral to go to on that Friday There was a wandering Irish Fiddle player who was appreciated by people from all cultures. Most people took part in a craft exercise where they made collage of their hands
They recorded where they were born, how
drawing round their hand, or letting someone
long they have lived in Leeds and
else do it for them. The physical contact was
something they like about living here .
unintimidating and very powerful.
The completed banner of hands will be used at other Leeds Irish Health and Homes events to promote the products of the event.
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Celebration of Diversity The event was a casual drop-in for its services users and explored how ageing affects people in different ways and the effect that being homeless has on the ageing process. I discovered that homeless people age prematurely between 10-20 years beyond their chronological age. This is due to prolonged exposure to stress which often leads to ‘weathering’. St Anne’s define older people as those aged over 50 years of age. The attendees and staff discussed issues of ageing and also health and discrimination. I spoke to Vienna who works with homeless people in Wakefield and she explained to me that the issues of health and discrimination sometimes aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s not always easy for the homeless to access health services and Vienna said that she sometimes takes clients to hospital when they need treatment but staff will often talk to her rather than the service user when asking what the problem is. People who have been long-term homeless often have sustained lasting damage to their health through their lifestyle and/or alcohol and drug dependence I spoke to Paul, a service user, who told me something about his life and the jobs he had held. He told me he used to have his own landscape gardening business and employed two people but that he had been on benefits since 1990 and has suffered mental health problems. He told me that he had mellowed as he had gotten older adding that at his age he just wants somewhere quiet to live. He spoke to me about his love of music speaking about his favourite bands. The drop-in style worked well giving the event a relaxed and laid-back feeling with people just chatting and enjoying the food that had been laid on. Service users seemed relaxed and happy to talk about their lives and the issues they face. They spoke about how they were feeling that day and discussed things like what makes us age and when are you old To the best of my knowledge this is the first time an event for homeless people has been run in Leeds to celebrate IDOP so I was pleased to receive an invite and glad I went along as I enjoyed speaking to the service users and listening to the stories and memories which they were generous enough to share with me.
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“We must continue to be proactive in recognising the hidden experiences of older people who use our Homeless Resource Centre (RAISE), and those who are prematurely ageing because of being homeless.”
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Cultural Exchange Event This event brought together two groups to celebrate diversity and to share thoughts and memories of traditional songs, music and dance. The groups were Heydays, a creative programme for people aged 55+ and members of the Sikh Elders community of Leeds. It was very much a case of full house with a large and enthusiastic audience who were clearly keen to participate fully. After a brief introduction the event got underway with Keertan Rehal, a talented singer and musician, talking to the Sikh Elders about the traditional songs they know and those they remembered from their childhood and youth. Keertan then sang some of these songs and rhymes with the audience joining in. Keertan then joined Christella Litras (another talented singer and musician) to perform a moving song called 11 Rupees, which told the story of Sikh soldiers who fought in the First World War and the sacrifices and suffering they faced for a wage of just 11 Rupees a month. Just under 100,000 Sikhs participated as combatants or non-combatants in WW1. The song is part of Sacred Sounds, a conference that was held at the Royal Armouries on 10 October this year and which explored Sikh Music Traditions and WW1. There was a rousing rendition of On Ilkley Moor Bah’t At with a mixture of enthusiasm and confusion from all sides probably due to the colloquial lyrics.
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“The event itself was a true celebration of the diversity of Leeds and its older people and an opportunity to share and learn through exploring culture and identity.�
Following the singing the two groups talked about traditional songs and dances they remembered from years gone by and the games they played as children which had rhymes and dances. Two ladies from the Sikh elders demonstrated a rhyme and dance from their childhood. Keertan Rehal then performed another traditional Sikh song and I noticed that some women from the Sikh Elders were wiping a few tears from their eyes and when the song finished Keertan explained that the song was traditionally sung at weddings and was about the new bride leaving her parents home to go live with her husband and his parents and to start her new married life. I suppose music has always had that ability to stir poignant memories. No matter what your background or culture is we all have memories that certain songs or tunes can rekindle. At this point I had to make my excuses and leave and so had to miss the afternoon session of the event (as well as the lunch), which hopefully was every bit as good as the part I attended.
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Trip to Holocaust Heritage and Learning Centre In 2018 the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association will be opening a Holocaust Learning Centre at the University of Huddersfield and the survivor members were instrumental in putting forward the initial idea for the Centre, as well as playing a central role in its planning and development. Many of them had not seen the Centre’s progress at the University since completion of the base build and they had requested a visit to the site to see it in person. The grant enabled the Holocaust Survivors’ Association to hire a minibus and taxis to take our survivor members to the University to show them the development and afford them the opportunity to inform progress in our exhibition. The survivors were given time to offer their opinions on the plans and were reassured that their comments and views would inform the way the Centre develops in the future. We were delighted to see the survivors in the Centre, which is their legacy for future generations. We are always mindful of the fact that the work of the Centre will be to represent the survivors and their stories and the event allowed us to reinforce that message for our survivors and remind them that they, and their memories are valued.
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Diverse Communities Celebration The event was run in partnership a local Muslim charity and it was a wonderful example of diverse communities can enjoy socialising together and learning about each other customs and religions. We tried a number of different foods from other countries all of which were enjoyed by our members and guests. Our members danced and enjoyed the music provided and took part in a quiz about different countries and customs and then we had a talk on Islam with a chance for our members to ask questions. Other local community groups attended and all harmoniously enjoyed a fabulous afternoon. People commented that they found it very interesting and enjoyed food which they would not have normally tried. It was a very vibrant and fun afternoon! Following the success of the event we will arrange activities in the future that are aimed at multi faith groups and working together in harmony. We have already started some partnership working with a local ladies Muslim group around cooking and hobbies and hope to very much expand on this in the future as the area in which we work is very multi-cultural.
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Cultural Understanding
The visit went really well. The two hosts did a perfect job and made the visit extremely interesting explaining about Islam and dispelling many myths our members had held for decades about the faith. The group consisted mainly of elderly ladies who asked many questions about the place of women within Islam. There were many entertaining words and experiences shared both ways. Our group were interested to learn how the Mosque was financed, how it was used for wider community activities and the amount of fund raising carried out for external charities including St Martins Children’s Hospice in Boston Spa. The hosts were invited by the ladies to visit Wetherby for tea to return the hospitality! The response to the original concept of the activity was supported by three ‘community leaders’ within Wetherby. These are older ladies and it was envisaged that dozens of people would have been interested in taking part. However it became apparent that visitors would have to comply with protocol at the mosque (the removal of outdoor footwear and to wear a head covering). Organisers suspected a sense of distrust and suspicion of Muslims and an element circulated these concerns which dissuaded the majority to take advantage of the experience. Clearly work to be done! It is likely a formal invitation will be delivered to the Grand Mosque for the hosts to visit Wetherby with a request to give a talk about the Islamic faith and role of women. I also believe there may be sufficient interest to carry out a further visit once word has spread.
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Music and Song from Different Cultures Owls celebrated the International Day of Older People by showcasing the talents of our members and volunteers. We held a cabaret style afternoon tea around the theme of diversity and invited members and volunteers to come along, either to perform for us or just to enjoy a lovely afternoon of entertainment. The gathering brought older and younger people together from the areas we work in to share stories, skills, and food and proved to be a very positive experience for everyone who attended. Some of our members were nervous about performing, but those who did, with OWLS support, were very pleased to have performed. The cabaret performers were OWLS members who play piano and sing. One of the pianists is partially blind, but with support was able to play at the event. He was delighted to have this opportunity (as were we). The cake competition only had a low number of entrants; just one younger person and one older person entered. The younger person made sugar-free vegan cakes and shared them with everyone, introducing some older people to this type of cooking and eating. Overall the event brought people together and gave younger attendees a fantastic demonstration of the creative talents older people have. OWLS will now look for opportunities in future to run more cabaret-style events with our members and invite others to attend. We are also going to invite the IDOP performers to perform at our Christmas party and encourage others to do the same at more OWLS events.
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Community Engagement Event This was a wonderful event and I was so pleased to have attended and been part of it. I have long been aware of the excellent and often innovative work of Armley Helping Hands but I was unaware that Aspire (Community Benefit Society supporting people with learning disabilities) had moved into the Strawberry Lane Centre and that they and Armley Helping hands were working closely together. The two organisations and their service users are clearly getting along famously much to benefit of both organisations. I spoke to Dawn Newsome (Manager of Armley Helping Hands) who told me about some of the positive stories to have come out of this partnership. Dawn told me first about Debbie who is a service user at Aspire and how when she first started coming to the Armley Helping Hands activities she wouldn’t let go of her care worker’s hands but within a few weeks she became independent and was mixing well with people and has since become a volunteer at Armley Helping hands. Dawn also told me about an elderly gentleman who was a service user at Aspire and was introduced to activities at Armley Helping Hands. This man lives in sheltered housing but didn’t mix with other residents and spent a lot of time on his own. When he came to Armley Helping Hands two service users who lived in the same sheltered accommodation recognised him and they now look out for him at the sheltered housing and include him in their activities. As well as Armley Helping Hands and Aspire the event was attended by pupils and teachers from Swallow Hill Community College and also people who are living with dementia Everybody who attended entered into the spirit of the event with considerable enthusiasm and it was wonderful to see this level of inclusive engagement.
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In partnership with Leeds Older People’s
participation activities and entertainment
Forum, ASPIRE (Community Benefit Society
from the fantastic Rocky from Health 4 All
supporting people with learning disabilities) and Swallow Hill Community College, we hosted a Community Engagement event at Strawberry Lane Community Centre to celebrate International Day of Older people and Diversity. We held a Tea Party for 45 people (20 Older people, 15 Adults with learning disabilities aged ranging from 28 to 72 and 10 young
Our ambition was to break down the barriers and establish a clear understanding of each other’s. each group was encourage to support each other in the event and participate in group activity including, sharing food, dancing, participate in magic tricks and small group party activities. Everybody who came had a fantastic time and as you can see from the Photos
people,). The community Engagement event
everybody participated in the event and
included Warm up exercises with our
became one group
wonderful exercise instructor Audrey. Lunch followed and then we had group
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Promoting Positive Attitudes Concerning Adults With Learning Disabilities The purpose of this event was to to promote positive attitudes concerning adults with learning disabilities. This involved taking Gateway members (adults with learning disabilities age 18 -75) to a local restaurant for a meal as we want to encourage our members to become more involved with their community. By networking with local business this gives our members more environments where they feel safe and secure We also wanted to engage Gateway members to celebrate the contribution of the volunteers who run the club. Out of 12 volunteers 10 are aged over 60. Mostly our volunteers run the activities but for this event the members took charge and allowed our volunteers to put their feet up. All members and volunteers were able to try a wide variety of Mexican themed food and enjoyed engaging with the restaurant staff. Members and volunteers also took part in learning how to use the I-pad to take photos for the photobooth in order to improve their knowledge of social media. Our volunteers created Facebook accounts so they could view the outcome on Gateway’s Facebook page. As a result of taking over for one evening Gateway members have become more aware of how hard the volunteers work to run the club. Also, our volunteers have become more aware of how to use social media and it has been decided that each volunteer will look after our Facebook page once a month.
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Contribution to the Community Celebration The group celebrated their contribution to the community by sharing traditional songs, music, dance and stories that was used to celebrate their cultural events and that has formed part of their community legacy The group is very diverse in their ethnicities, ages, genders and abilities and all come from the local community and surrounding areas. The event was about creating a better understanding of their personal as well as the communities contribution to Leeds and a celebration of them and their achievements. It was also an opportunity to create and promote understanding and move beyond simple tolerance to embracing the breaking down of barriers between the generations and to bring an understanding of cultural traditions evidencing that diversity which encompasses acceptance and respect. The celebration allowed the exploration of these differences through dance music song and oral history in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment whilst celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual from the communities they represent. A historian came in to talk about the bigger history of slavery and got the group doing some work making notes on their stories of their journey We will be putting on more events in a similar fashion as it went really well and the feedback was very encouraging.
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Asian Themed Celebration This event gave members of Burmantofts Senior Action (BSA) opportunity to meet older ladies from Shantona and learn about South Asian culture in a fun setting. The ladies from Shantona gave a demonstration of how to wear a saree, modelled by one of our members. The Bollywood music DVD playing in the background created a great atmosphere. Everyone got involved. We also had BSA service users sampling and enjoying Asian foods with ladies from Shantona. We were led in a fusion of Bollywood/Zumba dance, with music and dancing from different cultures, with participants learning and doing Bollywood dancing techniques which was great fun and very lively. We hope to build on this successful event and organise other similar events to introduce cultural exchange between different groups in the community (African, Syrian, Persian, etc) and encourage friendship. We see this as a starter event for a series of activities to bring together different cultural groups in the community that currently do not have opportunities to mix and build friendships and understanding in a safe and relaxed environment and to celebrate the diversity of the area. Participants from both groups had a great day. There was lots of chatter and laughter, energetic dancing both from chairs and on the dance floor and a real sense of celebration.
“This event inspired one of our service users to come next day wearing traditional dress from her home country in Africa.�
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IDOP 2017 Steering Committee ● Carole Clark
Leeds City Council Public Health
● Mark Clayton
Age UK Leeds
● Simon Copland
Age UK Leeds
● Gabrielle Hamilton
Leeds Museums & Galleries
● Roger Hawkins
Age UK Leeds
● Debra Kerr
Leeds City Council
● Richard Porter
Leeds City Council Public Health
● Catherine Quinn
Leeds Irish Health & Homes
● Lynn Towler
Leeds Libraries & Information Service
● Sean Tunnicliffe
Leeds Older People’s Forum
● Geoff Turnbull
Leeds City Council Equalities Team
Credits We would like to thank the following organisations for allowing us the use of their photos: ● Black Health Initiative ● Burmantofts Senior Action/Shantona ● Caring Together in Woodhouse & Little London ● Holbeck Elderly Aid ● Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association ● Housing Leeds – Tenant Involvement Team (Wetherby) ● Leeds Irish Health & Homes ● Older Wiser Local Seniors (OWLS) ● Rothwell & District Gateway ● South Leeds Live at Home Scheme Photos from Armley Helping Hands, St Anne’s Community Services and West Yorkshire Playhouse/South Asian Arts by Sean Tunnicliffe Cover photo by Sean Tunnicliffe.
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For further information contact Leeds Older People’s Forum Suite C24, Joseph’s Well Hanover Walk Leeds LS3 1AB Tel:(0113) 244 1697 | Email: sean.tunnicliffe@forumcentral.org.uk Web: www.opforum.org.uk | Twitter: @leedsopf | Facebook:
© Leeds Older People’s Forum 2017