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BRIDGING THE GENERATION GAP - Crediton 12th November 2011
PEOPLE of all ages from across Devon came together at the weekend in a successful bid to bridge the generation gap.
Young and old - and the middle-aged - explored their perceptions of each other at Intergen 2011 in Crediton on Saturday [12 Nov], a day of talks and presentations, music and workshops, dance and creative play - and much laughter.
Anne Marie Morris, MP for Newton Abbot, gave a wide-ranging speech, touching on education and jobs, health and crime, transport and basic life skills. The generations then went head-to-head in a musical exchange, with two passionate songs from members of Room 13, of Okehampton Youth Centre, followed by Crediton's hilarious Saga Louts, who ‘just wanted to be grumpy'.
Representatives from several community ventures shared the secrets of their successes. Sue Henley, from the Inverteign Family Learning Centre in Teignmouth, related how their network of volunteers got 300 people online last year. Brian Palmer, of North Devon's arts/performance-based outfit Seize the Moment, explained the transformation of a rundown building in Westward Ho! into a venue for all people, with 60-year-olds gardening alongside 20-year-olds. Tina Trapani talked of how the roads of Seaton started to become people-friendly again, thanks to the efforts of the Safer Streets group. Young people from Buckland in Newton Abbot told the story of members of the town's over-60s group joining them in a charity walk to raise funds for the youth centre.
Nick Mussell, of Crediton's Tanglewood Project, encouraged people out of their ‘comfort zones' into their ‘adventure zones' through a workshop exploring the views of young and old on each other. The adventure continued with some exhilarating zumba dancing and the chance to do coppersmithing in the open air.
The day at the Boniface Centre and Crediton Youth Centre was organised jointly by the Senior Council for Devon (SCfD), the grassroots forum for people aged 50+, and Devon Youth Service. It was rounded off with the planting of an oak tree to symbolise the event's theme of ‘from little acorns grow....'
Ann Crawford, intergenerational lead for SCfD and event co-chair, said: ‘We achieved everything we wanted to - we all learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves at the same time.'
Hannah Smith (15), of Crediton, and event co-chair, said: ‘It was a really positive occasion, sharing our knowledge and experience. This is something that affects us all.'
For further information please contact the Senior Council office at PO Box 210, Harberton, Totnes, Devon TQ9 9DA, telephone 01803 732678 or email info@scfd.org.uk
Intergenerational conference paves the way for community cohesion - November 2010
A conference aimed at bridging the gap between the young and old has shown the two generations share much common ground.
The first intergenerational conference, organised by The Senior Council for Devon and Devon County Council's Youth Service, brought together senior council members and young people to share and discuss issues of common interest, and showcase the intergenerational work happening around the county.
Guest speaker at the conference was Patrick Hanfling from the Beth Johnson Foundation - a national organisation that aims to find new ways to improve the lives of older people through intergenerational practice.
Speaking at the conference, Mr Hanfling said: "Often young people are seen in a certain light in society - as a problem - and something to be dealt with. This is often the same for older people, who are increasingly seen as a drain on society.
"The idea of intergenerational practice brings people together in purposeful, beneficial activities. Young people get a bad rap today, and this is replicated across to older people. They both suffer prejudice and exclusion. The aim of intergenerational work is to build a bridge and promote greater understanding and respect between the two generations."
The conference also featured presentations from Young Devon, who talked about some of the intergenerational projects they had been involved with, followed by a roundup of some of Devon's youth service activities around the county.
An official launch of Don't Judge Us Till You Know Us - a campaign being led by a group of young people supported by the Devon Children's Trust Partnership, marked the start of a programme of activities and publicity to raise awareness of the positive activities young people are involved in, and the negative stereotypes they are often branded within the media.
Lloyd Buffery, one of the young people involved in the campaign, said: "We're trying to show people that they shouldn't judge a book by its cover - there are loads of young people doing really positive stuff yet all you see are headlines about yobs and hoodies."
Mary Nisbett, Independent Chair of the Devon Children's Trust Partnership, said: "I'm really excited about launching this campaign, which has finally come to fruition after much work on the part of everyone involved. I'd like to thank all the young people who have been endlessly enthusiastic and creative, and to all the partners who have helped get this off the ground.
"Young people and older people have worked together on ideas for this campaign and this in itself is a great example of intergenerational work."
Speaking after the conference, Maggie Durkin, of the Bideford branch of the Senior Council, said: "It was a brilliant day, which I found really inspiring. The youngsters showed that the images of young people as just cynical layabouts are lazy and tired stereotypes, and we should be following their example and demonstrating that the idea of old people as dry-as-dust has-beens is equally wrong."
Yvonne Wardrop, chair of the Senior Council, said: "It was excellent to hear all that interested young people are prepared to do for their community, whatever their age." Read the full report.
Annual Review Meeting on Tuesday 26th October 2010
Workshops were held during the morning involving members and subject leads from the Board which included Communications, Shows and Events, and Raising the Profile. To read the reports from these workshops, please click here. Stuart Barker, Devon County Council cabinet member for adult and community services, gave a brief update on Externalisation of Care Homes and a Q & A session followed. Click here to read a review on this item. In the afternoon, our guest speaker was Tony Beard, the Widecombe Wag, whose humour and wit on rural current affairs was greatly appreciated by all who attended [read more] and to read Tony's Westcountry Poem in full, click on the icon below.
Devon County Council Care Homes
THE Senior Council for Devon has been guaranteed that the county council's care homes will always continue to provide residential care on the sites, even after they have been leased off to private companies. And in future individuals will be able to exercise ‘control and choice' over how the social-care budget is spent on meeting their needs.
Cllr Stuart Barker, Devon County Council cabinet member for adult and community services, told the Senior Council Assembly on 22 June that he wanted to dispel the ‘myths and rumours' about the ‘externalisation' of residential care and the ‘personalisation' agenda.
Cllr Barker said: ‘Under the terms of the tender that went out last week, the homes are not going to be sold off, but rather offered to companies on a 125-year lease with a covenant attached that these homes have to provide care on those sites for as long as we say so. ‘There will be residential care in perpetuity in the same homes, and staff will be protected under TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)] arrangements.' Five homes have not been included in the process, since these are largely funded by the NHS as re-ablement homes after hospital treatment.
‘Devon NHS hasn't made its mind up but needs to do so by October. Clearly we need a re-ablement service,' said Cllr Barker.
He said that the council had almost stopped using agency staff as too expensive, and had undertaken a close examination of staffing levels with the aim of achieving ‘five residents to one carer, not five residents to one manager'. Costs had been reduced and occupancy levels had increased.
Cllr Barker said that in contrast an earlier plan, cancelled last year, to transfer the homes to Shaw Healthcare would have meant a closure programme, cutting the number of homes from 24 to five.
He said that he fully understood that some people would always need a residential home, but in future individuals assessed as needing care would be assigned a personal budget, allowing them to spend the money as they wished.
He said: ‘For example, traditional day-care centres are OK for some but others find them boring. They might well prefer a trip round Dartmoor or a visit to the cinema. ‘We've been wasting money. In the South Hams one centre has thousands of places over the year that were not taken up, which adds to the cost per place. That money should be available in providing care services. We're also looking at different ways of providing respite care, with people perhaps choosing to go on holiday or into a care home or to have someone in.'
He added that more than half of the area-based Supporting People budget of £19million had previously been used to support homelessness, rather than elderly people and those with learning difficulties. That budget had now been brought under county-council control and more would used to support independent living by the elderly.
Responding to close questioning from Assembly members, some of whom had previous professional experience of social care, Cllr Barker promised that the leasing-off of homes would not be an opportunity for companies to asset-strip. They had to demonstrate proven experience of running care homes. He also assured them that services would be tailored to the needs of the client, rather than the needs of the budget, which would start to be set in October. He admitted that the council was ‘seriously behind' with assessments, and that it was working closely with the Care Quality Commission on the monitoring of care homes.
One questioner said that he was worried about the poor. If they had not got any external help they would be kept at home for as long as possible.
Cllr Barker said: ‘I don't agree. Everyone has an assessment of care needs and at the end of that action will be taken on the basis of that assessment - either residential or domiciliary care.'
Another Assembly member pointed out that Devon's rural character would limit the numbers of people who could be provided with domiciliary care in a 10hr day. He added: ‘I was hoping you would talk about increasing the numbers of care homes in rural towns.'
Cllr Barker replied that the county council's policy was to protect existing care homes in rural towns. ‘But I accept that rural areas need to attract a premium,' he said. ‘Perhaps some domiciliary care organizations should band together to provide care in such areas.'
COUNCILLORS are to be freed from restrictions preventing them from championing local issues, says the government.
Local government minister Grant Shapps said he wanted 2011 to be the year of "councillor power". Over the coming weeks, he intends to encourage a new generation of community champions to put their names on the ballot paper for May's local elections.
The government's Localism Bill would help place councillors centre stage in their communities with more clout than ever before, said Mr Shapps. This would include freeing councillors from restrictions that prevented them from championing local issues.
Mr Shapps has written to every council in England to outline how the new Localism Bill will clarify these so-called "predetermination" rules. It was wrong that councillors felt they were prevented from performing the role they were elected to do because they had declared a particular view on an issue.
Yet predetermination rules did just that, said Mr Shapps.
"It is ridiculous that a community can vote for someone standing on a particular issue, only for that person to be barred from talking about it once in office.
"Councillors must be given the freedom to properly represent the views of their constituents." The Localism Bill would clarify predetermination rules, Mr Shapps said. In doing so, it would end uncertainty that had left councillors confused and concerned about whether voicing opinions on issues of local importance.
"We are placing councillors centre stage in their communities with more clout than ever before to get things done for the people they serve.
Mr Shapps said 2011 would truly be the year of councillor power.
"That's why I want to encourage a new generation of community champions to put their names on the ballot paper for May's local elections."
Predetermination rules had led some council officers to advise councillors against discussing matters of local importance, the government claims. Members of South Cambridgeshire District Council had been told they could not comment on a proposed new park and ride scheme if they owned a car, it said. They had also been warned about discussing a proposed new site for a mobile phone mast if they themselves used a mobile phone.
Use this link to Rural Services Network website: http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Politics/Councillors-free-to-back-local-issues.html
Cullompton Town Hall was packed to the rafters on Thursday (March 18) for Culm Valley Senior Council's Question Time, writes Branch
Secretary Tim Butters, who chaired the session.
The Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Labour and UKIP parties were represented by their prospective parliamentary candidates in the Tiverton and Honiton constituency. In an interesting and sometimes intense two hours, subjects ranging from pensions to health service savings, Trident, ASBOs, school funding and the benefits of the EU were debated. It was not considered that religion is the route of all evil.
Senior Council Chairman, Bill Jordan participated in a panel discussion with Rt Hon Clare Short, MP and Celia Atherton, Director of Social Justice at Dartington Hall Trust following a showing of the delightful Italian film 'Mid-August Lunch'. The film was part of the Dartington Arts Older Age Season and explores with dignity and humour a food-filled 'nonagenarian sleepover' and delicately considers with warmth and gentleness, the themes, trials and consolations of the care of the elderly. The film was followed by a discussion exploring attitudes to and knowledge about ageing, led by Celia Atherton, OBE with Bill Jordan and Clare Short. The questions raised during the discussion ranged from how we are to pay for the care costs for our growing ageing population to how best to integrate older and younger people in our communities.
Ten members from across the county recently attended a focus group at County Hall with the Communications Team to brainstorm the best ways to get information out to the general public. The group considered the factsheets and information leaflets and Devon County Council’s website and made some very constructive and useful suggestions and comments. Several members from across the county already contribute to the process of making available accessible information from Devon County Council by proof-reading new factsheets and leaflets and making suggestions for changes.
East Devon Group Chairmen are holding regular meetings with East Devon District Council and raising issues of importance to older people, including the lack of free swimming and the removal of the free (to some) Homecare home alarms systems.
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