27/11/22

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Could you be Ageing Without Children’s next Chair?

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 Ageing Without Children supports those who are ageing without children for whatever reason, and aims to influence health and social care policy to improve their lives. Having registered as a charity and established a growing local network, we are now looking for a new Chair to take the charity through its next phase of growth.

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With the number of older people without adult children set to rise from over 1.2 million to 2 million by 2030 we will see this mean increasing strain on social and care services, and increasing difficulties for those ageing without children in accessing both formal and informal support.

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 Being Chair will be a hands-on role as we seek to

• Grow our profile

• Support new and existing local groups

• Seek new trustees and supporters

• Raise funds to grow activity

 

If you think you could help us grow, please email info@awoc.org.uk before 28th February 2023 for a role description and application details.

 

 

21/11/21 The University of Lincoln, in partnership with TED Ageing Better, recently carried out an exploratory study with people ageing without children in East Lindsey. Led by Professor Mo Ray, and based on interviews carried out in July 2021, the research aims to investigate the experiences of people who are ageing without children in rural East Lincolnshire. “The study will start to shape services and resources which are age friendly for people who are ageing without children and to raise the profile of people ageing in this situation.”(Mo Ray) The event to launch the report will be held on THURSDAY 2ND DECEMBER 2021 between  2 – 3.50pm. The event is held in partnership with the Healthy Ageing Research Group, University of Lincoln and will be an online learning and knowledge exchange event. Professor Mo Ray will discuss findings from a research project undertaken this summer, focussing specifically on the experiences of people aged 50 and over who are AWOC.

The link for the event is:   https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ageing-diversities-ageing-without-children-in-east-lindsey-tickets-204379483537.

 

7/10/21 - AWOC Launch as a new charity! Thank you to all those who attended and a recording of the Launch event can be viewed here!

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30/7/21 - "A lonely place to be" - our recent survey reveals that people ageing without children continue to feel invisible due to the Covid19 pandemic. Read the press release here, and the full report here.

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12/7/21 - "Ageing without Children Toolkit" now available! The National Care Forum commissioned a toolkit for its members to help them become AWOC friendly - this toolkit is now available on their website - download it free here.

 

Paul Goulden, Chair of AWOC, said "This toolkit is a real step forward for those working in the ageing sector in understanding the needs of those ageing without children. It will help those organisations ensure that they incorporate meeting those needs into their everyday work."

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21/5/21 - "The key to local success" - Lynne Joyce of AWOC Bradford tells of getting AWOC onto the local policy agenda. Read the blog here.

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11/5/21 - "Let Down Again!" our press response to the lack of a social care plan in the Queen's Speech. Read it here.

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7/5/21 - What we and the local groups have been up to . . .

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AWOC York

• Opening the Closet Door on Dementia. Friday 14 May 1-3pm for Dying Matters Week; and Wednesday 19 May 2-4pm for Dementia Awareness Week. See attached.

• AWOC York monthly meeting Wed. 12 May 2-4pm. Guest speaker from the National Trust + Kirsty Woodard on the national AWOC news. Slide presentation from our April meeting on the Cashless Society also available.

• AWOC weekly socials - 3 guests:
  22 April - Karen Fardell from www.thespringgroup.com/research   3-D visualisation of home improvements to enable older people to remain independent for longer.
  29 April - Liz Wands-Murray from the Unversity of York doing PhD research on LGBT+ access to, and experience of, health and social care. NB It's estimated that 90% of LGBT+ people are awocs.
  6 May - Helen Conroy from Community Voices, one of the York Human Rights City projects using 'slack'. www.yorkhumanrights.org/current-work/community-voices.

• 7 new members have come via our AWOC York website since January

• presentation links to various webinars which may be of interest:
  Digital exclusion; cashless society; dementia champions; human rights leadership; the Global Just Recovery Gathering (over 100 talks & events);
  and tomorrow (Sat. 8 May 10-12 noon) is the NPC webinar on Health & Care for All: you can find all the registration details and agenda on: https://www.npcuk.org/post/health-care-for-all-webinar

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AWOC Leeds

• The next meeting will focus on staying independent

• Working closely with other local organisations to raise the issues of those ageing without children

 

AWOC Bradford

• The next meeting will focus on forward planning for

• Bradford City Council are piloting a leaflet to go out to the public, highlighting the issues around ageing without children

 

AWOC East Lindsey

• The launch event went well with over 30 people attending

• They have a meeting with Victoria Atkins MP to further raise the issues of AWOC

• There will be a social group starting soon

 

AWOC National

 

• We’ve made a submission to the Public Policy Projects call for evidence on the future of adult social care

• The AWOC toolkit for NCF was launched, and we already have 11 members wanting to use it

• The survey has now closed – more details on the results to follow, but key findings are the increase in anxiety, and the overall feeling of invisibility amongst those ageing without children.

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15/4/21 - East Lindsey launch their AWOC group! - watch the launch event here.

 

12/4/21 - What we and the local groups have been up to . . .

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AWOC National

 

• Concentrating on getting our survey out, aiming to close it in a couple of weeks. Findings will then be used for press work and a launch when the charity registration comes through

• Kirsty attended a presentation about the forthcoming Health and Social Care Select Committee report on the future of adult social care. We’ll be submitting evidence to this, and we’ve also written to Matt Hancock and the Select Committee

• The AWOC toolkit will be launched at the end of April, with some organisations acting as pilot hosts for the training, before a larger roll-out later in the year

 

AWOC York

 

• Continuing our weekly social meetings on Zoom (Thursdays 11am for anyone wanting to join us)

• April 14th monthly meeting with speaker at 2pm will be looking at what a cashless society might mean for people ageing without children

• Check our AWOC York website for all speaker dates and info: www.awocyork.org.uk

• Monthly meetings began in Jan. 2016; we now have c. 160 on our circulation list (email and postal) around the country

• We have been keeping a record of awoc experiences throughout the pandemic which is attracting researchers

 

 

AWOC Bradford

 

• The Bradford group continues to meet monthly on Zoom and to have guest speakers. They have secured a council motion highlighting the importance of supporting those ageing without children, and has also been working with a Director in Social Services and the local Chief Nurse on how the Council and local health services deal with those ageing without children

 

AWOC Leeds

 

• The Leeds group have revamped their logo and continue to concentrate on information and support to members

• Future plans include a session on staying independent

 

AWOC East Lindsey

 

• The East Lindsey group will be launched on Thursday 15th April

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29/3/21 - AWOC Founder Kirsty Woodard speaks to Justin King about the issues facing those ageing without children - watch the podcast here.

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18/3/21 - Tell us about your Covid19 experiences!

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As part of our relaunch of AWOC, we are asking those ageing without children in the UK to tell us about their experiences over the past year.

 

We want to capture the voices, thoughts and experiences of people ageing without children during the pandemic in order that we can build up a detailed picture of the key impact and issues to inform our future campaigning and support.

 

The survey will take only 10 minutes, and you can take our survey here.

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