DGSF partner with Keeping Warm Project
DGSF gets seat on Older Peoples Consultative Forum
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DGSF gets seat on Older People’s Consultative Forum
A delegate of Dumfries and Galloway Seniors Forum attended the latest meeting of OPCF and issues on the agenda were transport, including community transport and care amongst others. Feedback form to follow.
SENIORS RALLY FOR OLDER PEOPLE’S PARLIAMENT
On 23rd June 2010, Dumfries & Galloway Seniors Forum hosted an open meeting for seniors in St. George’s Church Hall, Dumfries. Scores of people met to listen to Agnes McGroarty, Chair of Scottish Seniors Alliance, when she outlined a campaign to press the Scottish Government for a directly elected Older People’s Parliament.
“A national senior’s Parliament would provide a single, strong, independent voice to speak with authority for the older people of this country,” Agnes informed listeners as she urged them to support the idea.
The model for a directly elected body comes from Denmark, where it is a statutory requirement for every town and city to elect a Senior Citizens Council, which must be consulted by local authorities in all matters relating to older people. Scottish Seniors Alliance are campaigning for a similar system in Scotland to provide older people with national political representation.
As founding members of the Alliance, Dumfries & Galloway Seniors Forum fully support this initiative and are now collecting signatures in support. Contact our office on 01387 279500 if you want to get involved.
Pensions, care, housing and transport are four key priorities shared by the Forum and the Alliance. A Pensioner’s Parliament with the power and prestige of a Parliament is a vital agent in getting necessary improvements in these essential areas, the building blocks of a life with dignity.
Linking Scotland’s Seniors
The Scottish Seniors Alliance was formed in 2007 to act as the umbrella body for local senior forums and older people’s groups located throughout Scotland. SSA work with all older people’s groups to allow the “little voices” to be heard.
For over 25 years, older people’s forums and groups have helped government and statutory organisations to understand that the world of older people is changing around them and that they harness that knowledge to make better strategic decisions.