Engage with Age’s new programme “The PAL Project” has commenced. The PAL Project seeks to alleviate the impact of loneliness and isolation on older people.

Following on from the HOPE Programme, the PAL Project engages older people in activity groups which are lead by the older people themselves. The type of activities is determined by participants with a view to offering ongoing engagement and enabling older people to increase their social connections. Underpinning the whole programme is the ethos of enjoyment and fun.

The PAL Project is delivered by Martin Towers at Engage with Age.

To find out more or to become involved please contact Martin on martin.towers@engagewithage.org.uk or call 028 9073 5696.

Belfast City Council’s Home Safety Officer, Aoife McAteer, in conjunction with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Podiatry Department, Engage with Age and Volunteer Now have co-ordinated a “Foot Care for Falls Prevention” project.

The Public Health Agency funded project will be delivered to over 600 seniors from 38 community groups across Belfast by March. During the events; the Podiatrist from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust discussed foot pain, provided advice on how participants can manage foot pain and discussed the importance of good supportive footwear. The participants were given the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the event.

Looking after your feet is an important factor in reducing the risk of a fall. About one third of people over the age of 65 fall each year, yet around 50 percent of falls are known to be preventable.

The sessions are fully subscribed, however, if you would like information on preventing a fall or to be referred to a range of services for older people (including the Belfast Home Safety check and Repair Service) contact the Home Safety officer, Aoife McAteer on 028 9027 0428 or email mcateera@belfastcity.gov.uk

Spending time together is always fun, more so sometimes if it’s while wearing fancy dress, enjoying tea and cake, and listening to music and dancing. A wonderful time was had by about 100 older people enjoying Engage with Age’s Halloween Tea Dance. Attendees enjoyed tea and refreshments, games and trick or treating, and music from Rosie Hunter.

To find out more about our activities call Engage with Age on 028 9073 5696 or email info@engagewithage.org.uk

Engage with Age and its partners in the Greater Belfast Seniors Forum (G6) have been all aboard on celebrating “The Big Lunch” on a trip by train up to the North West. The Big Lunch aims to bring people together to enjoy social company. The G6 represents older people’s groups from all over Belfast and older people from all over the city used their hard-earned concessionary travel passes for a day out on the train. What a wonderful way to spend a summer’s day!

The Dementia Friendly East Belfast campaign was formally launched at the start of May 2017. The campaign is a collaboration between leading agencies and organisations that seek to support people affected by Dementia.

Dementia Friendly East Belfast aims to make East Belfast a friendlier place for people living with dementia, their family friends and carers, and for older people.

Organisations involved include Dementia NI, Alzheimer’s Society, East Belfast Community Development Agency, Linking Generations, the Belfast Health Trust, Public Health Agency, and many more. Engage with Age co-chairs the campaign along with East Belfast Community Development Agency.

For more information please call Engage with Age on 028 9073 5696, email dementiafriendlyeastbelfast@gmail.com or log on to the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/DementiaFriendlyEastBelfast

Engage with Age is commencing a new programme in South Belfast just off the lower Donegall Road.

The St. Simon’s Community Hub on Nubia Street is a recently renovated community hall. Engage with Age is working in partnership with the centre offering a weekly a programme from the 24th April – 6th June 2023. Eash session starts at 10.30am and runs until 12noon. Activities will include “Eat Well Bingo”, crafts, exercise and more.

The programme is open to all older people in the area. For further information please contact Leanne on 028 9013 6393 or by email leanne.andrews@south-city.co.uk

WORDS ALIVE Writing Group Receives Funding

WORDS ALIVE writing group for older people based in Donegall Pass community centre, have successfully received funding from the Big Lottery Fund to develop their outreach project. Their project was formed to bring stories, poems, a bit of stimulation and craic, to older folk who may be isolated, under-appreciated, or simply interested in listening and reminiscing.

Now, with the financial support of the Big Lottery Fund, Words Alive hope to have a more enduring impact. They will be able to produce an anthology of their writings to leave behind after their visits. Both individuals and carers will be able to draw on different sections of the book as a prompt to writing and reminiscing about their lives.
It was in 2013 the group responded to a request made through Engage With Age to visit some groups of people in residential homes, day centres and sheltered housing, particularly to connect with the elderly and isolated in the community.

The Words Alive Outreach project began by visiting Edgecumbe Day Centre where a wide range of individuals attend, including those living with dementia. Our visit met with a great response. Everywhere we went after that we were asked to come back soon. We realised that we were addressing an endemic lack of stimulus for older people in a variety of circumstances.
We have now visited more than 20 different venues and we have gained confidence and an understanding of what works. We would like to build on this small success by benefiting as many elderly people as we can reach. And now, thanks to the Big Lottery’s support, we will be able to produce an anthology specifically geared to our outreach work.

Chairperson of Words Alive, John Galbraith said “We very much hope that other groups will follow our example as we have found a real hunger out there for communication that is simply not being met. It would be great if our visits and book could create a ripple across the lives of many elderly people in Greater Belfast and beyond.”

CONTACT:

Kate Glackin: 02890799197
John Galbraith: johngalbraith6@virginmedia.com

Did you know that in just over 20-years the number of over-50s in Belfast will increase by over 32,000? That’s bigger than Ballymena or Newtownards.

Northern Ireland and Belfast’s population is undergoing an ageing revolution. In 2012 just over 30% of the city’s population were over 50. By 2037 it will be almost 40%. The changes are even more marked at higher ages with the number of over-85s expected to double.

This unprecedented change will have a profound effect on everything from healthcare to pensions, public transport to fuel poverty. Unfortunately, however, policy makers don’t have enough information to plan properly for the needs of a ‘greyer’ Belfast.

That’s where you or someone you know can help. To understand the implications of an older city, Queen’s University is conducting Northern Ireland’s largest ever public health study, tracking the lives of 8,500 people – including almost 2,000 from Belfast – as they grow older.

Known as ‘NICOLA’ (the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing), the aim is to improve our knowledge about ageing and give participants a better understanding of their own health and wellbeing.

NICOLA participants are randomly selected from a database provided by Northern Ireland’s Health & Social Care Board. Participation is entirely voluntary and all data collected will remain confidential.

There are three stages: an interview, a questionnaire and a health assessment. First, participants will receive an invitation letter before being approached by representatives from Ipsos MORI (appointed by Queen’s to conduct the home interviews). Everyone involved with NICOLA will carry ID clearly identifying their role.

Secondly a paper questionnaire will be provided for completion and return in a pre-paid envelope. Thirdly, there will be a health assessment at Northern Ireland’s Clinical Research Facility at Belfast City Hospital.

The assessment, completed by registered nurses, includes blood pressure readings, lung function, thinking and memory tests, body measurements, physical measures, blood and urine sample collection, plus a detailed eye examination using equipment not available elsewhere locally.  Participants can choose to take part in all or some of the assessments.

A paper questionnaire regarding diet and nutrition will be provided for return in a pre-paid envelope. Follow-up home-based interviews will be conducted every two years with Health Assessments every four years.

NICOLA will help make arrangements to enable everyone to attend the health assessment. Travel expenses will be fully reimbursed and free car parking is available.   Participants will receive a discount voucher for a local café and theatre, and you may also bring a partner or friend for support.

NICOLA and its participants will change the way we live for the better. If you are contacted by NICOLA and want more information, please visit www.nicola.qub.ac.uk or contact 028 9063 3078.

Just in case you missed it!! Here is the Castlereagh Lifestyle Forum NVTV clip of their Spring Tea Dance.

This leaflet provides guidance to older adults on the amount of physical activity they should be aiming for and the health benefits associated with staying active. It also offers tips and ideas on activities that older people may find useful and appropriate. The leaflet is aimed at older people of most physical capabilities.

Click here to download