A conference organised by London Met and Positive Aging in London (PAIL) provided a forum for discussion of issues affecting older Londoners.
Date: 09 March 2020
Students from the Health and Social Care degree programme worked together with London Met’s Work-Based Learning team and Positive Ageing in London (PAIL) to host a conference focused on Making London Age-Friendly on Friday 6 March. The students planned and co-ordinated the event as part of the work-based learning scheme which forms part of their degree.
PAIL is London’s regional age forum that brings together individual older people (50+) with local age-concern organisations from both the voluntary and statutory sectors across the city. It aims to give a voice to older Londoners, and to provide an opportunity to discuss and agree on issues that are affecting older Londoners.
London is preparing to join the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Age-Friendly City network, which means the Greater London Authority (GLA) is set to determine a programme which will make the city more accessible and inclusive for people of all ages.
The conference aims to give older Londoners a chance to agree on the proposals they want to see prioritised in the next Mayoral term, and to set out recommendations of how these could be practically implemented.
Chris Walsh, Chair of PAIL, said: "Making an age-friendly city means allowing older people to be at the heart of the process. They should be involved in the research, development, implementation and oversight processes in partnership with the GLA. This is our time to make sure older Londoners’ voices are heard. We will be discussing all the aspects of making London age-friendly – including topics such as health and social care, housing, transport, communications (and digitalisation) employment and skills, local streets, and inclusion and involvement for all older Londoners. We aim to help make sure that London is an openly accessible and inclusive city for people of all ages."
