Older People’s Council looking for new members for 2022
Cork County Council is seeking new members to join its Older People’s Council (OPC), a group of members all over the age of 50. The current executive of the Older People’s Council is heavily representative of The Avondhu region, with the current vice-chair position held by Mitchelstown’s Liz Downes, and PRO Christy Roche hailing from Fermoy.
Ms Downes spoke to TheAvondhu about the good work the OPC does, and the opportunities the council has afforded older people to have their needs addressed by the council.
“I’m vice-chair with the OPC, and my role is to bring back to the council anything that older people would wish for, or like to be seen done. The pedestrian crossing outside SuperValu in Mitchelstown, for example. Crossing would have been difficult before for older people, so that was seomthing I brought to the county council.
“If I see a need for something in the town I bring it back to the council. I must say they are brilliant, they’re very much in tune with the older people and are a great support to us. When the derelict building came down on Upper Cork Street, I said it to the council and brought it to their attention how much harder it is for older people to cross. That’s the kind of thing I do - that’s my role.”
Liz also emphasises the interactive nature of the initiative.
“You’re meeting a different cohort of people.There’s another committee, the Alliance Committe, with the HSE, the Gardai, the ambulance crew, and different age-friendly representatives from other towns. Kay Dawson sits on that committee and as she’s a chairperson of the Mitchelstown Age-fFiendly Committee too, the two of us work closely together in supporting the older people.
New members are being encouraged to join the Cork County Older People’s Council which provides a way for older adults to take a more active role in their communities and have their voices heard. The Council is free to join and is open to all County Cork residents, aged 50 years upwards.
Members of the Older People’s Council can raise issues of importance and inform the decision-making process of the Cork County Age Friendly Alliance. Members are also kept up to date on social events, issues of relevance to them and various Age Friendly initiatives.
A new tabletop calendar is being distributed through the network of eight Age Friendly Towns encouraging members of the public to consider joining the Older Peoples Council.
The eight Age Friendly towns at present are Mitchelstown, Kinsale, Bandon, Cobh, Bantry, Charleville, Millstreet and Passage West/Monkstown. It is the ambition of Cork County Council that every town will be Age Friendly.
There are over 300 members on the Cork County Older People’s Council, and new members can join online. For more information, email agefriendly@corkcoco.ie.