It was fantastic to hold my second Older Person’s Fair in Bury St Edmunds and fourth overall. They are a really good way of bringing together organisations and charities to highlight local services for older people. It shone a spotlight on activities and opportunities in the local community.
It was really successful and well attended with a wide cross-section of organisations exhibiting. What was interesting is that many of the people visiting told me they did not want to slow down and that they were actually looking for opportunities to help their community. It was great to use the information fair to match these people with potential organisations, to the benefit of all.
Not only have the fairs connected organisations, clubs and charities with people, but also with each other. This has led over the years to several working relationships, collaborations and sharing of best practice. The result being organisations knowing what others are offering and hopefully this fosters a wider engagement between them and residents.
It is important to highlight the number of opportunities that there are for people to socialise and to access help. The aim being to bring an end to isolation amongst older people in our community.
