23/10/2008 - 'Working Together' conference for older people - FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER : Cumbria County Council

People aged over fifty from across Cumbria will be getting together to discuss the shape of future older care services at a conference at Penrith Leisure Centre tomorrow (Friday 24 October).

Called 'Working Together - Empowerment for the Future', the free conference will see people who use services, carers, and citizens who are 50+ coming together to talk about the various ways to get involved with shaping services for the future.

The day begins with a keynote speech from Paul Cann, Help The Aged's national Director of Policy and External Relations.

In the afternoon, there will be workshops looking at such issues as:

- developing a forum for older people

- getting involved in research

- the best ways of listening to voices that aren't usually heard

Julian Legat is a development manager with Cumbria County Council's adult social care services. He said:

"With the projected growth of numbers of people in the 50 plus age group, it’s vital that we gain an accurate understanding of what they want from their services.

"There are different ways for people to make their voices heard, one way being through coming to a local forum or participating in a conference such as this one.

"The more we hear from people, the more likely is it that we plan services with them that meet their needs."

Penrith Leisure Centre on Friday 24 October, the conference runs from 10.30am until 3.30pm.

Paul Cann Biography:

Paul Cann has been Director of Policy & External Relations at Help the Aged since 2000, with responsibility for research, policy, international strategy, media and external relations. After reading English Literature at King’s College Cambridge, where he also held a Choral Scholarship, he taught for five years. He joined the Civil Service where he held a range of postings at the Cabinet Office, including working as a Private Secretary to successive Cabinet Ministers. A subsequent spell in the private sector included working for ‘The Independent’ newspaper. He joined the charity world in 1992 as Director of the British Dyslexia Association and subsequently of the National Autistic Society. He was a Trustee of the disability charity Contact a Family for five years, a charity which supports carers and people with special needs or disabilities.

At Help the Aged he has brought together research and policy, and he has been particularly involved in Help the Aged’s work on pensioner poverty, social exclusion and care issues. As Director with responsibility for international affairs, he has helped to reshape the charity’s international programme and increased Help the Aged’s own profile and activity. In 2008 he was awarded the medal of the British Geriatrics Society for an outstanding contribution to the well-being of older people.

Please note: Cumbria County Council's media team telephone numbers have now changed.