EVERYONE’S TOMORROW
The Senior Council for Devon has won top-level recognition for its work in ‘grasping the nettle’ of dealing with the issues affecting an ageing population.
Speaking at its conference and information fair in Exeter on Thursday (March 11), pensions minister Angela Eagle MP said the council was going from ‘strength to strength’.
More than 200 delegates from across Devon, and a countywide live radio audience, heard high-profile speakers at the Everyone’s Tomorrow event at the Matford Centre speak on the vital issues facing older people, from health and transport to acquiring IT skills and reaching out to the 
younger generation.
Just as importantly, delegates had the chance to ask questions and expect answers from the policy makers at two Question Time periods. The first of the hour-long sessions was broadcast live by BBC Radio Devon on David Fitzgerald’s lunchtime show, and Fitz went on to interview delegates and stall holders on his programme for a further one-and-three-quarter hours.
Ms Eagle said: ‘The Senior Council for Devon has demonstrated just how to grasp the nettle of dealing with the issues affecting an ageing population. You are going from strength to strength, and have achieved a lot in a short amount of time, in diversity and range, from dementia awareness campaigns to hobbies and skills and silver surfing.
Cllr John Hart, leader of Devon County Council, said there were more retired people today than there were in education, the largest single block of the population.
He warned of a ‘much tighter belt’ financially from next year, but said that the county council had set the lowest council tax for a ‘very long time’. He praised the work of the Senior Council for Devon, describing it as a ‘power to the county’. He would try to ensure that funding continued.
Everyone’s Tomorrow co-ordinator Yvonne Wardrop said: ‘This whole event has been a great boost for us, and thank you to BBC Radio Devon for getting our message to a much wider audience.
‘With more active members we have more clout, and we have shown we have the listening ear at county and national level.’
Senior Council chairman Bill Jordan said: ‘Congratulations to everyone involved on the enormous success of the event. It’s a great credit to all and will prove to be very useful in the development of our organisation.’
