Age Concern Carlton & District aim to help to make life better for people in older age and all of their services are designed to help to alleviate loneliness and isolation. They believe that later life should be celebrated.
As a result ‘Age Friendly Carlton’ was founded, which is designed to highlight businesses who pledge to be welcoming and patient, assist with shopping where required and to go the extra mile in supporting older adults.
There are currently 33 businesses signed up and proudly displaying the bright pink ‘We are Age Friendly Carlton’ logo so, if you see the logo on the door/window of a Carlton business, you can rest assured that you will be welcomed and have support available, should you need it.
The Age Friendly movement was launched by the World Health Organization in 2005, with the mission of developing local strategies to support people to remain independent in older age.
Across the UK, a variety of Age Friendly schemes have been set up and Age Concern Carlton & District wanted to make it personal to Carlton, so held several focus groups with older adults in the community and asked them what the term ‘Age Friendly’ meant to them and how something meaningful could be done in the area.
Suzy Layton, Occupational Therapist at Age Concern Carlton & District told Gedling Eye that the overwhelming response was that many older adults had lost confidence in doing their own shopping, visiting the hairdresser, and generally going out into the community.
She added “When asked why this is, we were told that this is due to reduced personal mobility, lack of public toilet facilities, feeling rushed in shops, lack of patience by staff and customers in shops, lack of seating around shopping areas and poor quality of pavements.
“With these issues in mind, we met with many business owners before the Covid pandemic and started ‘Age Friendly Carlton’, we have picked the idea back up again since the pandemic and hope to sign up more businesses over time.”
Active Notts have worked with Age Concern Carlton & District, Gedling Borough Council and Jigsaw Homes to produce an information leaflet called ‘Getting in and about in Carlton’, which shows where benches in Carlton are situated, helping local residents to plan rest stops when out and about. The leaflet is available from the information stand in the Age Concern Carlton & District shop and will be delivered to Jigsaw homes complexes.
For further information about the ‘Age Friendly Carlton’ scheme, including how to sign your business up, please visit www.ageconcern-carlton.co.uk/age-friendly-carlton/ or you can contact contact Suzy on 07754 266444 / otageconcerncarlton@gmail.com.
Age Concern Carlton and District is located at 352-356 Carlton Hill, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 1JBa and can be contacted by calling 0115 940 0421.
