Ageism Day of Action: 2024
Published on 28 March 2024 11:57 AM
Introduction
March 20th was the Age Without Limits Action Day. This day saw organisations come together from across the nation to make a stand against ageism. Local Age UK’s, Independent Age, the Centre for Aging Better and many more voluntary sector organisations took part in social media and press activity to raise awareness of ageism and its prevalence in society. The theme of #SeeAndBeSeen was to bring attention to the voices and experiences of older people - a group who too often are overlooked, stereotyped and discriminated against.
Actions
At Age UK East London (AUKEL) we are committed to giving older people a platform to get their voices heard. Amplifying older people’s voices is a pillar of our new five-year strategy, we’ve blogged previously about involving older people in our strategy development and about the power of the Older People’s Reference Groups. We were therefore clear that we wanted to mark the Age Without Limits Action Day.
On the day itself we held a discussion group at Caxton Hall with our clients and staff on the topic of ageism. Our colleague Jackie gave a presentation and listened to our clients as they discussed the ways in which Ageism had affected them and supported each other through the challenges they faced.
Our City Connections team hosted a poetry group with a focus on poetry and essays that challenge ageism and unpack stereotypes around getting older. They discussed Nora Ephron’s ‘I Feel Bad About My Neck’ as well as Jenny Joseph’s brilliant ‘Warning’. This lovely event closed with a good old sing-a-long to The Beatles’ ‘When I’m 64.’
"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit."
An excerpt from Jenny Jospeh's Warning.
We also released a video interview with one of our clients, Yetunde. As an elected rep for the Newham OPRG, Yetunde facilitates regular meetings where older people can come together to make their opinion heard on issues important to them, as well as find out about services and network with their peers. Yetunde is also a stroke survivor who dedicates much of her time to supporting other stroke survivors on their recovery journeys. Feel free to watch part of our interview with Yetunde by following this link.
Feel free to watch our interview with Yetunde by following this link.
Final Thoughts
It was a privilege for us to spend this time with Yetunde and hear her story. She is an inspiring person who, in the face of adversity and serious illness, continues to be an outstanding contributor to her community and society. At AUKEL we know this is often the case. Far from being burdensome, as some ageist stereotypes would lead us to believe, older people support their families, their peers and the their communities in significant ways that are often overlooked. It is by unlearning the ageist stereotypes that condition us, and engaging with older people on an equal footing, that we can recognise this contribution and make progress as a society.