older people – Page 30 – The NEN

Altmann: Older workers ‘still have so much to offer’

Economist, policy expert and consumer champion Dr Ros Altmann CBE has been appointed by the Westminster government as its new Business Champion for Older Workers.

The appointment, announced today by DWP Minister Steve Webb, marks the latest step in the government’s drive to support over-50s in the UK labour market.

Dr Altmann – a former director-general of Saga and independent expert on later life issues – will be tasked with making the case for older workers within the business community and challenging outdated perceptions.

The move follows the government’s publication last month of Fuller Working Lives – A Framework For Action, which set out the benefits to individuals, business and the economy as a whole of people aged over 50 staying in work.

Dr Ros Altmann (pictured below) said: “I am so pleased that the government has shown it recognises the importance of encouraging people to stay in the labour market, rather than giving up before they need to. This will bring benefits all round – to individuals, to business and to the economy as a whole. A big part of my role is to work with employers to understand the significant benefits of retaining and recruiting older workers.

“I am really proud to be taking on this new role and look forward to championing over 50s in the workplace. This fast-growing section of society has so much experience and talent to offer and could play a vital role in future growth. Everyone can benefit from ensuring their skills do not go to waste. I also look forward to challenging some of the outdated and downright inaccurate perceptions of later life workers who still have so much to offer.”

DWP Minister, Steve Webb MP, said: “In appointing a Business Champion for Older Workers I wanted a powerful voice; someone respected amongst the business community, with a track record of speaking up for consumer rights without fear or favour. In Dr Ros Altmann that’s exactly what we have.

“Older workers have a huge amount to bring to any workforce and are a vast, untapped talent in the UK labour market. The business case is compelling and I am delighted that Ros will now be taking a lead in going out and making that case directly to the business community.”

There are currently around 2.9 million people aged between 50 and state pension age out of work in the UK. While the UK employment rate for this age group is around 60% and growing, many other countries achieve rates of around 70% or higher – so there is clearly significant potential for more older people to participate in the labour market for longer.

Demographic changes present major opportunities for employers to harness the benefits of taking on older staff, but also pose a serious threat to businesses which continue to believe they can rely solely on a young workforce. In the next 10 years, there will be 700,000 fewer people aged 16 to 49 in the UK labour market but 3.7 million more people aged between 50 and state pension age.

Minister for Women, Nicky Morgan MP, said: “Experienced and mature workers are a valuable asset to the UK economy. Many women with caring responsibilities come with a lifetime of knowledge and skills. If we don’t retain them – British business loses out. We need to provide extra support and help employers challenge outdated perceptions to see the real strengths of this important section of the workforce. I am delighted that Dr Ros Altmann has been appointed and with her breadth of experience, she will be a great advocate of this work.”

Baroness Greengross, Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre-UK, said: “We are living longer than ever before, yet far too many people fall out of the workforce early. Without more older workers active in the workplace there are significant risks for UK plc that we will not have the workforce or skills we need to be a competitive nation. Businesses must wake up to the challenge of extending working lives.

“Helping people work longer requires leadership and it is wonderful to see the announcement of Ros Altmann as the new Business Champion for Older Workers. I have no doubt that Ros will do all she can to nudge, encourage and indeed push companies to maximise the potential of older workers.”

One employer which has long recognised the benefits of a diverse workforce is coach operator National Express. Almost 1 in 3 (30%) of its 1,700-strong workforce are over 50.

The company’s HR Director Jenifer Richmond said: “For us, taking on and retaining older workers isn’t about compromising or bowing to political correctness – it makes sound business sense. We really value being able to have a good mix of older and younger employees as these often make up our best performing teams. Mixing with and learning from older staff is often the best way in which our younger employees and apprentices can learn, as well as being a great example of being reliable and having a positive work ethic.

“It is also the case that our customer base is diverse in age, and it is important that we have a workforce that reflects that. As National Express continues to grow and expand as a company, the contribution made by our older workers very much forms part of the plan.”

The wider economy also stands to benefit. Research conducted by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research has found that if everyone worked one year longer, GDP could increase by 1% (equivalent to £16 billion in 2013).

And there are also significant gains to be made for individual households, with an average earner working one year longer having the potential to boost their pension pot by around £4,500, in addition to earning an extra year’s salary. Conversely, an average earner retiring 10 years early could see their pension pot shrink by a third.

Those who leave the labour market early will not only lose out on the earnings they could enjoy, but also have less chance to build up later life savings, and their pensions will have to last longer. Work brings the benefits of extra income, higher potential pension later on and more production in the economy which can help create extra jobs in future too. There are also well-recognised benefits to people’s health and wider wellbeing when they are working.

PEP celebrates quarter century

How do you pack twenty-five years of history into a two hour time slot – and leave time for lunch too? It was a Herculean task for for Pilton Equalities Project, but like so many challenges they’ve faced in the past the local project passed the test with flying colours!

Staff past and present, volunteers, service users, friends and community colleagues celebrated PEP’s 25th anniversary at Edinburgh College Granton Campus on Friday.

Introduced by PEP chairperson Joan Turner, health professionals Jane Jones and Christa Wynn-Williams, former PEP worker and community activist Roberta Blaikie and current manager Helen Tait took their guests on a whistle-stop tour: from the beginnings in Royston Wardieburn and The Health Hut as Pilton Elderly Project right on to the present day as the multi-faceted Pilton Equalities Project – quite a journey!

As well as speakers there were displays of PEP memorabilia and photographs and guests also had the opportunity to renew auld acquantances and reminisce over a buffet lunch.

Many happy returns PEP – and here’s to the next 25 years!

and here’s 25 pictures … well, nearly!

All CHANGE for community transport

Funding boost is early birthday present for PEP

Pilton Equalities Project (PEP) is one of five community transport initiatives set to receive a funding boost from the Change Fund. It’s great news for one of North Edinburgh’s longest established community organisations – PEP celebrates it’s 25th anniversary next month.

The Change Fund for Older People is national funding allocated to health and social care partnerships made up of local authority, NHS, voluntary and independent sectors.

The City of Edinburgh Council and partners in the health, voluntary and independent sectors have invested £225,000 Change Fund monies into providing more minibus services in the capital, ensuring the city’s older people are set to enjoy improved social lives thanks to improved community transport

Accessible transport provides an essential role in helping frail older people access activities, helping to tackle the social isolation that they may experience as well as improved health.

Transport supports older people to live well in their local communities and maintain their independence in line with Council strategies such as the Live Well in Later Life Joint Commissioning Plan for Older People.

The Edinburgh Change Fund Partnership allocated the £225,000 across five community transport providers in the city:

•The Dove Centre,
•Pilton Equalities Project,
•South Edinburgh Amenities Group,
•Lothian Communities Transport Services,
•Handicabs.

The Change Fund met up to 90% of the costs to each organisation.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “Many older vulnerable people feel isolated and providing them with transport so that that they can access activities will help to tackle this. Supporting older residents and their health and wellbeing is a Council priority, which is why we are spending £1.2m this year on reducing social isolation in communities.”

Letter: More funding needed to protect our parents

Tony Delahoy on the final part of a deeply troubling BBC documentary …

Dear Editor

The third and final part of the BBC television programme ‘Protecting our Parents’ (Thursday 2 May) further illustrated the total inadequacy of the available resources – both staffing and funding – in addressing the human needs of frail individuals who are trying to understand the position they are in, at the same time being asked to decide their future accommodation needs.

Relatives, if available to help, are usually elderly themselves, with limited physical ability and torn by guilt.

One lady, who had dementia and at times could be aggressive, was a changed person after having one-to-one care: it was discovered in these one-to-one sessions that music was very comforting to her.

The extension of one-to-one care will need many more staff, more funding and more training. All authorities, national and local, say money is scarce so it is worth reminding them that all wealth is produced in the first place by people, and that money extracted from that wealth in various taxes still belongs to the people, who in turn elect others to manage to fund what the people need.

The Protecting our Parents series has shown the problems that exist now; the offloading of the elderly from hospital (to prevent ‘bed blocking’) to a sparse choice of expensive care homes, or a home care package which is inadequate, not only for essential needs but for mental inclusion in life.

A rapid increase in building NHS ‘halfway hospitals’ with fully trained staff is urgently needed to cater for the elderly who are in need of other care or accommodation.

Much more funding must be allocated to recruit, fully train and deploy staff to enable all round caring be given in Protecting our Parents.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Budget: ‘government is leaving retirement to chance’

‘Pensions ‘fiddle’ proves government is leaving retirement to chance‘

Britain’s biggest pensioners’ organisation The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) say pension changes in the recent Budget will simply store up bigger problems for later. The group adds that the private pensions industry might ‘make a killing’ but changes proposed by the Chancellor do not address the underlying problems of funding an adequate income in retirement.

The NPC’s main objective is to promote the welfare and interests of all pensioners, as a way of securing dignity, respect and financial security in retirement, and the organisation believes that the Chancellor’s real intention is to place further responsibility for retirement onto individuals and the market, rather than seeing it as a role for the government. The campaigning group adds that welfare caps, pensioner bonds and changes to pensions prove government ‘is leaving retirement to chance’.

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “Pensioners will be concerned that benefits such as the winter fuel allowance, cold weather payments and the Christmas Bonus have all been placed into the welfare cap, which could lead to cuts in the future, at a time when fuel bills in particular are continuing to rise. The announcements regarding a new Pensioner Bond and changes to ISAs were also rather rose-tinted. 55 per cent of all pensioners receive less than £10 from their savings and 29 per cent of older couples have less than £1500 put aside.

“The idea that older people therefore have huge amounts of money to invest is rather optimistic, but the most serious change was related to defined contribution pensions. These reveal that more has to be done to improve the prospects for future pensioners. The state pension is one of the worst in Europe and the high water mark of decent company pensions has long gone.”

She went on: “However, allowing people to take all their pension pot doesn’t make the pot any bigger and belies the fact that the average worker will have a pension pot of little more than £30,000 to cover all of their retirement. Enabling people to take their pensions from aged 55 also shows the chancellor has realised there is a huge problem coming down the line which has to be funded. His plans to raise the state pension age to 68 will create an army of older workers, who if lose their jobs in their late fifties will be unable to find work. The only way they will have to fund this period of limbo until they reach retirement age will be to use their pensions – which might solve the problem in the short-term but will store up bigger problems later on when their money starts to run out.

“Once again it’s a pensions’ fiddle and those left to carry the burden will be some of the lowest paid workers.

“The reality is money purchase defined contribution pension schemes are simply not the answer to funding a decent income in retirement. The private pensions industry might make a killing from the schemes but most workers end up with much less than they thought.”

For further information about the National Pensioners Convention visit www.npcuk.org or email npc.scotland@yahoo.co.uk

Don’t let loneliness ruin Christmas

Age Scotland is calling on older people in North Edinburgh who feel lonely or who face difficulties over the Christmas holiday to make use of Silver Line Scotland, a new free* national helpline offering information, friendship and advice.

0800 4 70 80 90

The service, which is delivered in partnership by Age Scotland and Esther Rantzen’s charity The Silver Line Helpline, will be taking calls all day and every day during the holiday period, and throughout 2014.

Age Scotland Chief Executive Brian Sloan said: “Loneliness can hit hard at this time of year, with older people who live alone, or who have caring responsibilities, being particularly vulnerable. Callers to Silver Line Scotland will be greeted by someone who is friendly and helpful, and who understands that there’s no shame or stigma in admitting that you feel lonely. But the service is also there for older people, and their friends, families and carers, who just want practical advice and information.”

Topics that Silver Line Scotland can assist with include welfare benefits, community care, home safety and repairs, accessing health services and information about local groups and services for older people.

The Charity also publishes ‘Hot Tips,’ a free 2014 calendar that offers information and advice to help older people stay safe, well and comfortable all year round. Calendars are available in libraries, GP’s surgeries and from some MSP’s constituency offices.

Health and Fitness Festival heading to Victoria Park

The words ‘health’ and ‘fitness’ are not part of my usual festival vocabulary, but a festival with a difference is coming to Victoria Park soon …

Zombies, space hoppers, hula hoops and health& fitness practitioners are among some of the activities, demonstrations and information stalls included in the official programme for the Leith Health & Fitness Festival taking place at Victoria Park, Leith on 10 August 2013 from 10am to 5pm.

Organised by local Edinburgh charity, Looking After Our Elderly, this new Festival is free to enter and aims to bring all generations of the local community together with the aim of getting active, healthy and having fun.

The programme contains a wide range of family friendly events and activities including:

5k charity run, adult space hopper race and fitness demos for the wider community from hula hooping and fencing to bodycombat and bootcamps
Range of health, fitness and nutritional information stalls including
Therapists offering taster treatment sessions
Entertainment marquee hosting a ceilidh band, comedian, dancers and afternoon tea
Complimentary bowling on the green
Range of local business and community information stalls

Kirsty Smith, Charity Director, said: “The countdown is now well and truly on to our first ever health & fitness festival and I’m excited about the programme that we’re launching today.

“The festival is all about bringing people together and reigniting community spirit.Whether you’re looking to find out more about getting active and healthy or just want to simply enjoy a day out with friends and family, there is something for everyone. We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone along. ”

Kirsty set up Looking After our Elderly in November 2012 as a Christmas Gift Giving Campaign to ensure older people who were house-bound, in care, on their own or in need, did not feel alone at Christmas.

The Festival will help to raise proceeds for the Charity and for the 2013 Christmas Gift Giving Campaign.Entry to the festival is free for everyone to come along.There will be a small joining fee to participate in the 5k run.

Kirsty added: “We’re still on the lookout for people to get involved and support the festival in other ways, by racing, volunteering, hosting an event or demonstration or setting up a business or information stall.”

For more information on how to get involved, the latest programme updates and application forms for the race, stalls and volunteering visit:

www.lookingafterourelderly.co.uk.

Get set for Leith Health and Fitness Festival

Looking after our elderly:

In the winter of 2012 a new Charity campaign emerged in Leith called Give a Gift this Christmas. This was an opportunity for organisations and members of the public to donate gifts which were distributed to elderly people across Leith and North East Edinburgh. This was a tremendous success and has led to the development of a Health and Fitness Festival, which will not only raise funds to help the Charity, but will also provide the opportunity for sharing information about keeping fit and healthy whatever your age.

To raise the profile of the Festival there will be a number of key events happening across Leith and wider. Subsequently there will be a range of raffles and smaller events to ensure that the word is out and that people are excited about the festival.

Leith Health & Fitness Festival – Saturday 10 August, Victoria Park, Leith

Our inspiration is to help bring back community spirit! Working together will offer a way to pull all generations together, to mend the cracks and try to give support and care to our local elderly residents.

There will be a range of stalls and events designed specifically for the older community, this will include a marquee set aside for entertainment, amusement and a free raffle, bowling on the green and lots of complimentary events / treatments on the day.

For the wider community there will be:

Stall spaces for therapists and personal trainers (small fee)
Stall spaces for local businesses (Small fee)
Advice on optimum & sports nutrition
Career advice
Youth and Community information
5k fun run (application form below)
Hula Honeys
Fitness demos
Activities for all the family.

If you feel you could support this exciting venture by having a stall, promoting your services, donating prizes for our competitions or raffle, (we have two raffles, a main raffle for everyone and another one for our elderly people). Or volunteering on the day then we would love to hear from you.

Please email me if you are interested in being part of our first Festival.

Email: lookingafterourelderly@virginmedia.com

All proceeds will go the Looking After Our Elderly and our second Give a Gift This Christmas campaign.

Thank you!

Kirsty Smith

Charity Director

5k run app

festival stall email application form

Call for North Edinburgh to nominate ‘older people’s champions’

North Edinburgh residents are invited to nominate their local champions for older people for the Age Scotland Awards 2013. The Charity is looking for individuals, groups, partnerships and services that are inspirational in making a difference to older people.

The Awards will be presented at the Scottish Parliament on 1 October, the UN International Day of Older Persons – with 30 August the closing date for nominations.

Nominations are invited in five categories: campaigning and influencing, partnership working, services for older people, volunteer of the year and Age Scotland member group of the year. These are sponsored respectively by McCarthy and Stone, Raeside and Chisholm, Specsavers at Home, David Urquhart Travel and Solicitors for Older People Scotland. Details on how to nominate are available online atwww.agescotland.org.uk/awards or by calling 0845 833 9334 to request a postal entry form.

Brian Sloan, Age Scotland Chief Executive, said: “Through the Awards we aim tochallenge popular myths about later life and our ageing population, demonstrate the vibrancy of older people’s voluntary action, and inspire others to follow the example of Scotland’s best services for, and by, older people. So if you know of, or are, an individual, group or service in north Edinburgh worthy of wider recognition, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, a nomination from you will be warmly welcomed.”

Silver surfers: steer clear of online scams

Scotland’s growing legions of ‘silver surfers’ are being warned to be vigilant as cyber criminals look to prey on unsuspecting victims with increasingly cunning online scams. With the numbers of older people using the web and discovering social media channels growing daily, fears are being raised they are becoming the prime targets for internet scammers.

The fraudsters are continually concocting scams to fool unsuspecting web users with many of the cons taking place without the victim being aware, ranging from social networking and financial scams to those relating to online employment or auctions. One smartphone/web-based App set up to highlight the explosion of online scams lists more than 600 different online cons.

The latest warning comes fromthe Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC), as part of a new campaign it is fronting to raise awareness of various issues that can place older people at risk of financial harm.

Gary Ritchie, Assistant Director of SBCC, said: “These con men will stop at nothing to shamelessly deceive and swindle internet users out of personal details and money. While many of us have been using the internet for some time and have grown to recognise these types of scam emails, anyone can be caught out as new scams are constantly being designed to trick unwary web surfers into parting with money or personal information.

“The increase in ‘silver surfers’ using the internet as a way of communicating now means that older people are increasingly exposed to these crimes. Older people in particular are prone to falling for emails that appear legitimate because they look like official emails which appear to be from a well known bank or unsolicited mails where the scammer tells of recent disastrous events which have left them stranded, usually in a foreign country with no money and no passport. Sadly these people are frequently conned out of huge sums of money. Crimes against people who perhaps don’t have the same capabilities or support to protect themselves as others is appalling and has no place in Scotland.”

One of the most prominent online scams is ransomware; a category of malicious software which, when run, disables the functionality of a computer in some way. The ransomware program displays a pop-up message demanding payment to restore functionality.

The malware, in effect, holds the computer ransom, the pop-up advises law enforcement has locked the computer and suggests that this is a result of the user viewing indecent images or terrorist sites.

These pop-ups use the logos of recognisedUK forces, including Action Fraud so victims are easily fooled by this con. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid this pop-up and given the number of different gangs operating ransomware scams, a conservative estimate is that over £3 million a year is being extorted from victims, however, the real figure is likely to be much higher.

Chief Inspector Ronnie Megaughin at Police Scotland, also chair of the Adults at Risk from Financial Harm Group, said: “There are a number of factors which require to be present for frauds or scams to be successful and the vulnerability of the victim is at the heart of that equation. While anyone can be duped, those who are most vulnerable within our communities are faced with the greatest risk.”

He added the Keeping People Safe campaign being managed by the Adults at Risk from Financial Harm Group aims to put in place a range of prevention measures necessary to safeguard individuals and reduce criminal opportunity.

As victims are often too embarrassed to report these various internet crimes, authoritative statistics are hard to establish. However, a recent study by Age UK found almost half of the over 60’s questioned said that they had been targeted by a scam last year.

Lindsay Scott, spokesperson for Age Scotland said: “Although today’s pensioners may be mentally sharper than ever, they still make a prime target for con artists because they generally have more disposable income and because they’re usually more trusting, having grown up at a time when things were taken at face value. It’s also true that longer life expectancy has resulted in a growing generation of people in later life who perhaps live alone, are maybe a bit forgetful or simply become confused or frightened by smooth-talking scammers. This combination of not remembering correctly and in many cases, particularly involving men, being unwilling to admit there’s a problem, can make older adults especially vulnerable to this sort of crime.”

A booklet containing information and advice on a variety of scams has been created and produced by The Metropolitan Police Service’s Operation Sterling Team and is available to download for free by visiting http://www.sbcc.org.uk/media/84031/little_book_of_big_scams.pdf

Scam Detector is a smart phone and web-based app available to download for free which exposes more than 600 of the world’s most fraudulent scams.http://scam-detector.com/

The SBCC, which aims to work in partnership with various bodies to create a saferScotland, recently held a conference to establish a blueprint forScotland’s private and public sectors and voluntary organisations to collaborate consistently and effectively to protect those who may be subjected to financial abuse by others.

The SBCC is currently forming a strategic multi agency steering group to provide further advice, guidance and protection around those who are seen as vulnerable in this way through information exchange and early intervention including the development of aScotland against Scams initiative. The group will also consider how to tackle e-related scams and postal scams as part of their ongoing work.

This steering group will consist of representatives from the Scottish Government, Social Work Department, Trading Standards, police, banks, energy and utility companies as well as a variety of other interested organisations.

More information about the Scottish Business Crime Centre and how to become a member can be found atwww.sbcc.org.uk.