Creating an Age Friendly Community with Heather Olive

Melanie:

Welcome to the Family Carers podcast where we help moms, dads, aunts, uncles, daughters and sons, friends, in fact, anybody caring for a family member or a loved one to feel supported in their role and connected to their community.

This week, we're joined by Heather. Age Friendly Communities Coordinator from BCP Council. Heather's been helping to grow the Age Friendly Network across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. It's part of a World Health Organisation initiative, which we're going to learn more about shortly.

In this episode we explore how you go about creating an age-friendly community and the great support that's already out there. We'll learn what an age-friendly community's coordinator does, local initiatives happening across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch now, how we were chosen in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to be part of a World Health Organisation initiative, the free support and training that's already out there waiting for you, and how this impacts local residents and how you can get involved. I'm Melanie Cohen, stay with us.

And now I'd like to introduce Heather.

So hi Heather, how are you today?

Heather:

I'm all right, thank you. It's really lovely to be invited to be here today, so thank you very much.

Melanie:

Oh, thank you for coming. I'm so excited that you're here to share all this incredible news, information about what's going on locally, because I think it will be something that will be new to a lot of people and something that's such an important part of what we're doing collectively, locally. So for anyone that doesn't know you, could you just give us a brief introduction to who you are?

Heather:

Yeah, so it's really lovely to meet you all. My name's Heather and I have lived in Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole for, well, most of my life and before I came into this role I was an occupational therapist living in Bournemouth, working in Bournemouth hospital and Christchurch of change and the amount of what I could do as kind of patching people up and looking after them had really changed I guess particularly through the pandemic and I really felt like what I was achieving to help people. Wasn't the same as when I first joined as an occupational therapist. And I really noticed that we were seeing the same people coming through the front door. And I felt that there must be something else, something else that might be more impactful. really started thinking about prevention, prevention of people getting to the stage where they needed our service really, as falls prevention and that sort of rehabilitation. So that's when I discovered about age-friendly communities. 

Melanie:

Okay, and that's something that we're gonna hear about in a minute because it's, yeah, what we're here to talk about today. And a lot of people won't have heard of age-friendly communities as an initiative. So maybe perhaps start by telling us explaining to our listeners what the Age-Friendly Communities Initiative is and what an Age-Friendly Communities Coordinator, which is your role, what you do.

Heather:

Yeah, definitely. So Age-Friendly Communities, that was a World Health Organisation initiative that was originally thought around the early 2000s where the World Health Organisation noted that globally, luckily there was an increasing older generation across the world, but also that upper age range was also increasing and they noticed that either we can set up the communities that people them to be living well, aging well, living as independent, fulfilling lives as they can, or the opposite, that actually as a community, if you're not enabling that aging well, that you're disabling and people become more reliant on services like the NHS, social services, and there's more of that sort of crisis management that you're dealing with. They did this amazing study over 30 countries and each country they were asking people you know what is it that makes you know, your quality of life and no matter which country they went in, the same eight areas came up. So those things include things like transport, housing, social participation, which is obviously really important. Inclusion and diversity, your civic participation, employment, communication and information. There's those eight areas and those eight areas affect your quality of life no matter where you live and no matter who you are. know and that's the lens that we look at when we're looking at what is an age-friendly community.
So what are those eight areas like in our community and what was working well and what can we build on from there?

Melanie:

So just rewinding slightly because that is incredible that this has been a global initiative, a global piece of research that's been done to really look at how people as BCP, how did you get involved with that? Is this something that's been kind of cascaded out across the whole of the country, or is it something that in BCP was recognized as important to us locally, so therefore you kind of chased and tapped into that? 

Heather:

Yeah, that's a really important question, really good question. So... I think it was kind of around 2021, 2022. It was put by Prama originally to the council and saying look there is this World Health Organization initiative and we think that we are best placed. We know that we have got this wonderful demographic of older people living in Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole so really we should be leaders in making our community the best that they can be. And you talked about whether it's something that's happening in other areas, and again, that's a really good point. So currently in the UK, there are over 75 age-friendly communities, and they've been doing it for different amounts of time. So you've got people like Manchester that's been doing it for about 20 years, and then us who's been doing it for a couple of years. But there's so much learning that we can get UK in those different areas and that kind of learning is coordinated for us by the Centre for Ageing Better because the World Health Organisation chose a different affiliate I guess to help coordinate activities in each country and for us it is the Centre for Ageing Better. So locally we are doing work, we've got a local network which is growing all the time. There's about 100 different organisations within the local network and over 200 people that are currently all working with that aim of how can we enable our community to age well. But then we've got that wonderful national focus as well, which means that I can say, right, Sunderland, they're doing this amazing thing called Age Friendly Ambassadors, maybe we could do that locally here, which we are doing. So we can pick and find out these wonderful jewels of information and bring that locally and equally share what we're doing on that national scale as well.

Melanie:

And so- Yeah, that's an incredible resource, isn't it? And just to have that shared learning. And to be able to talk to people and reflect on how different initiatives have worked for them locally because the demographic across the country is different and different local areas are gonna have different needs and they're gonna have different resources. So actually just being able to learn from other people that have tried it before. and either kind of mirror what they've done because we feel it's gonna work well here and it's worked well for them or just taking elements of that and trialing it here. It is incredible. So you're part of something of the Center for Aging Better and you meet with the other age-friendly community coordinators, do you, from around the country?

Heather:

Yeah, so we have like a weekly network meeting and we take it in turns to present about something that we've done. hearing about these wonderful initiatives and how other people have done it as well. And the sharing of information has been phenomenal. So I picked on Age Friendly Ambassadors as an example. I met with both the age-friendly community coordinators in Leeds and Sunderland, who both have these sort of age-friendly ambassador networks. Age-friendly ambassadors are people who are passionate about their local community aging well. And they have given me all their resources, so all of their role descriptions, what they do, how regularly they meet, the support that they give. And then that meant that I wasn't running from nothing. I could just get started and introduced the role locally so I was really lucky with that

Melanie: 

Which leads to greater impact much more quickly doesn't it when you can share that sort of that groundwork that always has to go in the first instance? Yeah if you can share that makes everything so much quicker to actually get to reaching the people that need those support services. I'd just like to say how incredible it is that BCP have really committed to doing this. Because I think we should recognize that it's not an easy thing, it's probably not a cheap thing, they've had to commit resources, funding, but to actually just acknowledge that as a community this is really going to make a difference to people and to provide those resources and to really try and reach the people within the community and get so many people involved because it's not just about people who are, I mean we're all ageing. But it's not just about people who are aging within our community, it's everybody, isn't it? Because it takes everybody collectively to build an age-friendly community. Organizations, individuals, groups, businesses, everybody.

Heather: 

Exactly, it's the network for BCP, born with Christ, Judge and Paul, is wide. You've got your statutory agencies in there, your social services and your NHS, and you've got your faith-based groups, you've got your voluntary organizations, and equally individuals in there that are just passionate about trying to age well, and it's about us all working together. It's not one person trying to do one thing. it's about that collectiveness and sharing of information and that drive that we want to make a difference. It's a real, we call it an asset-based approach, so it's about what do we know works well and how can we make that work even better or how can we spread that and research has shown that produces results quicker than if we are the other way where we're looking at just where the negatives and making that flourish across Bournemouth Christ Church and Poole.

Melanie: 

And presumably from everything you've said it's a very collaborative approach you're trying to get as many people involved as possible so talk to us a little bit about how people if they feel it's something that they'd like to get involved with how our listeners can do that.

Heather:

Oh well they would be really welcome for sure and you can definitely contact me we have an age-friendly newsletter which I've given you the link for.. 

Melanie:

Yeah, we'll put that in the show notes so people can access it.

Heather: 

Oh, that's brilliant, thank you. So you can learn about the events and the Age-friendly news from that and we welcome you basically to any of the events, particularly where we're trying to find out information and understand more about what it feels like to age in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. We also would love you to consider the organizations that are involved in your life, just giving them feedback, because actually that's what we want. People want to hear you, like, how are we doing? What could make it easier for you? It's that feedback into the organizations that are looking after you that's really important. So feeling that empowerment, like, actually, it's okay. And we had this lady in one of the listening events recently saying, oh, it was really difficult to, I think it was the stairs, or there was something missing or something difficult, and actually when we were talking about it at the listening event with her, she said, I haven't told them though, so actually what I'm gonna do from here is I'm actually gonna go back and say, is there anything we can do? Can I help support? That bit, that access bit isn't so great for me anymore, and it will be affecting other people as well that go to that GP surgery, of empowerment that's really important. And then I mentioned about age-friendly ambassadors earlier and that's a role which anyone is welcome to do. And that is about knowing what is happening from an age-friendly point of view and just sharing that with your peers. And part of being an age-friendly ambassador is knowing what ways you can have your voice heard. So that's something that I would be sharing with you. So it can be something like the council are doing a survey on parks and you want to give your opinion on that. Or it could be a local organisation who is doing a survey to their members and beyond about what their service is like and what are the barriers to accessing their service. And that's happened recently too. Your voice really matters and it is really important for us to hear it. And actually, it's part of the age friendly process, so the World Health Organization says the first initial step, and I would argue it's a step that is with every step that we do, is engagement. It's listening and acting and doing, that's the next stage, and then sort of that reviewing and the implementation and then that reviewing. But I think engagement is throughout all of that. We constantly need to be listening. And if somebody wants to make a change in their community, enabling them to do that too.

Melanie:

And I think for people to understand that they don't have to have come up with a big strategy and they just can voice something that they're finding challenging or a suggestion that they've got and it can be something really small but just because it's small it doesn't mean it's not going to have a huge impact for a lot of other people. So it's really encouraging people to share no matter how small they think their input is that it's really important, it's very valuable. So you meant, let's rewind a little, because there are two points. There are two points in that. So first of all, the Age Friendly Ambassadors. I'm an Age Friendly Ambassador. I'm privileged enough to do that. I'm really loving being involved in the work that we're all doing together. And I think it would be really helpful for people to understand if... either they're an individual or they work as part of an organisation or they have their own business. What is the role? Talk to us a little bit more about the role of an age-friendly ambassador and what that person might look like or who it's open to.

Heather: 

So it's open to everyone and that's what's really important. I think if you've got a passion about ageing well and maybe supporting others so that they're aware of the initiatives that you age well then definitely being an age-friendly ambassador would be a role for you and I have got like a role description but I think I've probably said it to you haven't I that is a bit like a buffet and you pick out the things that you enjoy and you leave the things that you don't enjoy and that buffet of choice if we'll call it like that it can be anything from reading the newsletter and then thinking oh okay so that's the that's happening how can I be part of that? Or is that something that interests me or not? Or actually I know Betty down the road is really interested in transport and she might want to be part of that initiative. So it's about reading the newsletter and thinking the what ifs. To being an age friendly ambassador in that you are raising awareness against ageism. This is something that affects one in three of us. That's what the Centre for Ageing Better found in their local state of ageing report. So understanding... what you can challenge if you feel able to challenge, from the birthday cards that we receive, you're just noticing the comments and the things that are in the media and changing the way that we frame aging from it being a negative to actually, there's so much that we can give as we get older, you know, the wisdom that we have and the knowledge and seeing it as a positive thing. So it's the sharing of information, it's the getting involved if you've got an idea, it can be the raising awareness about ageism. Some of our age-friendly ambassadors, we've developed some training, and there's a few of our age-friendly ambassadors that are really passionate about training, and they're going to take that out to their community groups that they, and their friends that they're aware of. So if that's something that interests you, that can be something that you do. I'm completely open to the role emerging as well. So if you join as an age-friendly ambassador and say, actually Heather, my skills are this, then I would love to hear because it may be that then that might really support an organization to improve. So all of the above and as much or as little time as you want to give. 

Melanie: 

It sounds like the one thing you're looking for is passion. Passion for improving our communities and the lives of people. as they age and that can be interpreted in whatever way works for that person. And I know for me I felt like I was in a position where I could be a bridge between the people that we provide care and support to and the wider community so as I could help to amplify their voices within that space and also in reverse I could cascade the information that's out there and some of the practical steps and support back down to those people. So I'm a bit of a funnel both ways really and I feel like that's where my role sits as an age friendly ambassador, but also being part of a much wider network of people who are so passionate about the same thing is amazing. Cause sometimes you do feel like you're kind of, walking through porridge a little bit and things become quite difficult. But when you're in a room with people that have the same passion and the same energy and the same drive, it's amazing what can be achieved together. So I would encourage anybody who's interested to get in touch with you and to find out more. So to see if it's going to be something that might that they might like to find out more about or get involved with, whether that's, you know, just to try it for a few months and see whether it works. And there's support there isn't there? You mentioned it brilliantly there, but we at the moment as Age Friendly Ambassadors, you chose for like two in-person meetings and actually we've got one coming up soon. So you've got that, you can come along to the Age-Friendly forums and that's where you meet all of these different organisations as well which can impact you and help you understand more about what other people are providing but also means that you can then, like you said, share that information with the people that you know. And you can email me and ring me as well. So lots of support. Okay. For me, it's not something that I'm just giving. I'm receiving so much from doing it as well through the people that I'm meeting and the things that I'm hearing about and the joint initiatives that are coming out of that. But it's definitely not a role where you end up just giving your time and giving your resource. And it is definitely something that is of huge value. I see for myself as well from the short time that I've been doing it for already. So yeah, definitely I'd highly encourage people to get involved with that. because you mentioned something else in passing, which I have. Well, one of our customers, one of the people that we support, who was housebound, didn't have any confidence to go out, you mentioned your listening events, we encouraged all of our customers to get involved with this. And I'm going to ask you in a moment to tell us a bit more about these, because I saw firsthand what a profound difference that has now made to one of the ladies that we support. She had lost confidence to leave the house. She agreed, we encouraged our customers, we invited them and she said she'd like to come along to one of your listening events and we accompanied her. She was quite nervous. Since that day, that day's reconnected her to the community. She now goes out at least once a week and takes part in group activities. It's transformed the way that she lives and I really, I think I don't think it should be underestimated, the power that it can have by valuing somebody's voice, opinion, valuing them as a member of a community, which she'd lost all connection with. So that small step of coming along to your listening event has made such a difference to her. So can you please tell our listeners, because you skated over the listening events earlier very quickly, just can you tell our listeners about your listening events?

Heather: 

And I remember that lady really fondly because yeah, she was wonderful. So I'm really pleased to hear that. So yeah, really, really lovely. We held four listening events earlier this year. And again, this is just the beginning of conversations. You know how I said that engagement is at the beginning of this four stage plan that the World Health Organization asked us to do but it's throughout everything that we do, listening and acting on what people say, telling them what we're doing is really important. That cyclical movement of hearing, doing, are we getting it right? So these four events, we chose to partner with some of our organisations that are part of the Age Friendly Network so that they would be able to help us reach further into the community. So we had Unity and Vision and we went along to one of their group meetings from, it's called Beautiful Wisdom, a bunch of ladies from different nationalities that are all coming together to share their wisdom, you know, it's just beautiful. with the Salvation Army in Bournemouth in Winton and Prama for Paul and Christ Church Community Partnership for Christ Church and at these events we had Bournemouth University peer groups that's public involvement in education and research and we held these events in community venues except for the These events really were framed around this sort of, you know, the asset base. So we talked about like, what is it for you that makes an age-friendly community? What is important to you? What is working well? If there was no holes barred, what would your ideal community look like? And then from knowing what it's like to what your dream is, what are some of the things that we can all do to make that difference? those four events we met 80 people and that's incredible and we're really grateful for their time and we know that we need to continue that conversation so this is what we've learned what we've learned from that is that it's really important to feel safe you know particularly if you've come from a war-torn country and you've come over to the UK that safety is really important longing was a really common theme no matter where people live, whether it's born with Christchurch or Paul, a sense of purpose, you know, and that could be your role as a grandparent, it could be your role in your church, it could be your role in the organisation that you support, or it could be... your role as a wife, your role as a carer, you know, it's that feeling of purpose and that sense that you're doing good. And I just... I think that there was a real appreciation, I guess, of the value of things in our neighbourhood. So the local park, the beaches, the new forest on our doorstep, all those things make a difference to how we age well as a community. So that connection, sense of purpose, and our beautiful area makes a difference on how we age well. And then interestingly, a lot of the things that were in those eight domains us, you know, if we could be this all singing or dancing age friendly community, we would have, you know, this transport, this is what it would look like, or this is what our community environment would look like, this is what our support network would look like, and that was really important for us to learn too, because that information is what we then let our organisations know that are in that age friendly network. what is important to the people that we are serving, trying to make an age-friendly community and trying to make those improvements for. So it's getting that dialogue to know where we need to be improving together. Yeah, that is amazing. It's a real collaborative piece, isn't it? So the listening events that took place, how frequently are you planning to do those? Yeah, so I think that we are looking at listening all the time, different ways. So we know that obviously when we held that event we had 80 people come along that's wonderful but we need to be really mindful of the people that are housebound and reaching out to them so we will be doing different things and that's where that age-friendly newsletter really comes into its own because that's how you'll find out so I can't say oh we're definitely be going to be doing these listening events regularly and like once every months, it's more that we want to hear you all the time. So again, it's whether you speak to the people that you see, so whether it's your GP surgery, like that lady was saying, or the carer agency that's coming in to see you, or whether you hear about the local survey that's happening, could be organisational, could be something to do with the council, they've got a get involved part on their website that you can get involved in there. or whether you become an age-friendly ambassador, there will be a number of avenues to hear your voice and this will be continuous, hopefully forever, because we should never, never be complacent. We should always be listening. And what I didn't say about the age-friendly listening events was that the last question is, what can we do? And all those 80 people all came up with something that they were going to do to make a difference. And can you imagine how powerful that is? That ripple, even if it's like I'm going to tell the person that lives on my street about their local community cafe where they can go on a 

Wednesday and get a drink and they can meet people, you know? It's that makes a real difference if we all just do a little bit. 

Melanie: 

Yeah. that is. I couldn't agree more and it's so lovely to hear that you're searching for ways to connect with people and not just setting up something that you're going to routinely repeat because then it almost becomes, it can sometimes almost become a bit of a tick box exercise whereas actually you're being responsive to the needs of the people across the community and really thinking about how they might be able to connect with you because as you quite rightly say there are a lot of people reason there were barriers that would prevent them from attending an in-person listening event and yeah I mean if we can as age-friendly ambassadors if we can facilitate you are kind of roots for people to express their opinions and their views and yeah I think that would be incredible we can make such a difference across our entire community We'll definitely link up all of this in the show notes, but I think from what you said, the most important thing is to subscribe to the newsletter because that's where all this information is going to be shared. Yes, that would be amazing. We'll encourage people to do that as well. I know that one thing that we wanted to talk about is sharing knowledge through education, through training, through workshops, because that's a project that you've been working on and I know that we've also looked at being part of to try and support you with that as well. So across the Age-Friendly Communities Network, there are a lot of organisations like us at Bluebird Care that have got expertise that would be useful for us to be able to share to help people with navigating their own personal situations. So let me not talk about what we're doing within that, but perhaps you can tell us about what your vision is and what's in place already with the education and training element. 

Heather: 

Okay, so I'm gonna start talking, but if I miss something, then tell me. So I'm gonna talk about the network and the training that we can provide as a network, but also about CARE specific support as well. Okay, I'll try. Because who knows where I go when I start talking. So, there is, we've done a big piece looking at what organisations are on our network and what information can we share, what training can we share, and we've done a training directory because like you were saying, we've all got skills that we can share, knowledge that we can share, whether it's dementia awareness training or whether it's safeguarding or first age. You know, it's really important. important for us to be able to share that training with each other. So we've got this training directory from there. And being part of a network and that sharing culture means that when we've got training being organized by an organization, if they've got spare spaces, they will say, oh, I've got some safeguarding, first aid training, whatever it is, I've got a few spaces, can anyone make use of it? Because if it's going ahead anyway, well then it makes sense to take that space, doesn't it? So make the full opportunity of that training. So we have that wonderful raft of information training directory for organisations to share and the brilliance about that is that we're hopefully raising standards, raising awareness through sharing the knowledge that we have. And then I mentioned about the UK network of age-friendly communities and they also developed some training. in different communities and I've looked at their training on communication and ageism awareness and also about really what age-friendly communities are and through that and looking at recent reports and research I've set up three training modules as well so looking at those particular areas so that we can hopefully improve in-person communication, written communication that is going to people, that we can be more aware of ageism and how it affects us and others because actually it really does, it really affects how we interact with the outer world, how we see ourselves, whether we're capable or not, people question that as we get older. So actually it's really important to know, well, is that just an ageism? Is that something that I just need to be more aware of. So that and spreading the awareness of age-friendly communities too. So those are those three modules that I've set up. And we are aware that we really need to raise awareness, particularly of things like dementia awareness, into the community so that we can improve the service that people are getting. So we've also got... some wonderful organisations that are passionate about spreading dementia awareness. And there was an event in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago now where organisations got together in the library and one of the ladies from our network did dementia awareness to about 80 people on that one day. So that then has that ripple effect. So that's the the awareness raising and training that we have as a pool of organizations. And how do people access that? So there's the training directory on the council website, which again, I've given you a link to. And then there is training specifically for carers, and you can get that through the carer support page as well. Skills and Learning are doing some great, like suite, I guess, of carers support, and that can be anything again from first aid training, it can be in-person training, it can be online, it can be short, or it can be long. also other organisations, um, oh, now I've forgotten their name, but... provide, oh I can even see their booklet, how funny is that? When you can't remember their name. Oh, Leonardo Trust, so they also provide training too. So all of these links are on that Cara support page and you'll be able to. We'll make sure we link that up. Yeah, be able to sign up to the courses that mean the most to you, that will be the most support to you because it's about getting the right information at the right time. Sometimes it's just about improving your own confidence with things isn't it? So I think sometimes just being able to access some of these training opportunities can help to reduce people's stress or anxiety around certain areas because... it just kind of solidifies their understanding or reconfirms their knowledge. And I think even that in itself, don't necessarily have to be learning something new. It can just be about improving your confidence. Yeah, for sure. And I think there's, I guess what I was trying to say with the training is that there's kind of two stages or two processes there where you're trying to improve the service that you receive from organizations through the training that I was saying providing and then there's that training that goes directly to you like you said that improves your confidence and your resilience I guess in what is can be quite stressful situations at times so it's finding the support for you but knowing that we're trying to support from the other side too so hopefully the services that you get will be aware of your needs too. 

Melanie: 

And if we've got listeners who work for organizations that might be able to offer some I'm sure you'd love to hear from them.

Heather: 

Absolutely, get in touch. Honestly, I'm really, really happy for people to contact me.

Melanie: 

Okay, that sounds brilliant, thank you. So I think we've covered so much and it's clear that at BCP you're really working in a very holistic way to try and improve the experience of people within our area as they age. I think... Perhaps it would also be really helpful just if we can just think for a moment about ultimately what impact you're hoping that all of this incredible work is going to have on the person who's living in Pool perhaps alone, not sure how to connect. So as people are actually aging within our local communities, if they aren't connected with the work that you're doing at all, how will they feel the benefit of that?

Heather:

Yeah, that's a really good question. Because you're right, there is all sorts of things going on in your... community, but if you don't know about them, or it's not quite the right time, then it can pass you by, can't it? So in GP surgeries, they have health and wellbeing coaches, and if you go to them with how you're feeling, or what you would like support with, then they're able to sort of tell you what you need, or what is out there that might be able to support you for that very moment. So that's a brilliant practical kind of example that you're doing can impact somebody living within our community. Yeah, absolutely. And then I think from an age-friendly community point of view, it's about the ability for you to feel like your voice leads to change. That's really important. And because of there's that greater networking and that greater, I guess, organizations talking to each other, it leads to improvement of feel. So I guess an example of that is we have a, we had a voluntary organization that particularly specializes in... trying to end and reduce social isolation and they were at one of our forums and they were sat next to a housing association who was saying you know since COVID we noticed that our communal areas they're just not being used like they used to so this organisation came in and said right well let's see if we can get local your local residents plus maybe come together for like a coffee morning and then we'll also train, if any of the residents are wanting to, to take it on so that then it's theirs. And that's developed so that it's across, I think it's three or four housing associations now and the hidden benefit that they weren't expecting that happened was that actually people were like, oh, do you know my neighbor? She didn't come down for coffee this morning. I'm gonna take her with some coffee you can just make sure that she's all right. So if you weren't able to get there, that people are then creating that community. So those are the, I guess that's a practical example of how it's made a difference to people's lives.

Melanie:

Yeah, amazing, thank you. Well, Heather, I could keep talking to you all day. You're doing such a lot of incredible work. Maybe you can come back another time and we can talk some more. But for now, I think... I think I'd just like to wrap it up by saying that I'd love people to get involved in any way that they can, whether it's by subscribing to your newsletter just so as they're aware of what's happening locally and perhaps so as they can share that information with people that they think it might be useful for. or whether maybe they want to get in touch with you and find out more about becoming an age-friendly ambassador. But just building that community, I think, for all of us, if we can do whatever we can at whatever time is right for us, however big or however small, I think collectively we're gonna be able to make such a difference to so many people. And we shouldn't ever forget that it could be an impact for us. further downstream as we age. So I think if we can all do whatever we can at whatever stage of life, whether you're a child at primary school or whether you're in your 40s and you've got small children, whatever you're doing, whatever stage of life you're in, if you can contribute anything to getting involved with this amazing initiative, I'd love to think that people will get in. Yeah, you can make a difference. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm really looking forward to seeing you at the next Age-Friendly Ambassadors Meetup. Thank you. I'm excited to hear about all the new ideas, initiatives and the sharing that's going to happen at that. But for today, thank you again, Heather, for joining us on the Family Carers podcast. I really appreciate you being here and talking to our listeners about all the wonderful work that's going on.

Heather: 

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it and it's been wonderful, so thank you.

Melanie:

Oh, thank you, Heather. So thanks for listening to the Family Carer podcast and a huge thank you to Heather for joining us. I always enjoy catching up with Heather and can't wait to see her again at the next Age-Friendly Ambassador Meetup. So Heather and I are also looking forward. to the events that are going to be taking place to celebrate the International Day of Older Persons on the 1st of October. That's another conversation for another day again. So you can sign up to the newsletter if you want to learn more about what's going on locally and we'll pop the links in the show notes so that you don't miss out. All right, folks, remember to subscribe and share this with anyone you think needs to hear it. And finally, interesting fact, did you know that two in five residents in the BCP area are aged over the age of 50? So that's 165,000 people. So age-friendly communities work can really make a big difference to a huge number of people. Thanks again, Heather.  

Thank you.