Celebrate National Older People’s Day 2013 with SCAN!

The UK's National Older People's Day is on Tuesday 1 October and Stratford-on-Avon District Council together with the Senior Citizens Action Networks, SCAN, is once again supporting this with a series of events across the District.

Older People's Day coincides with the UN International Day of Older Persons and is a national celebration of the achievements and contributions that older people make to our society and to the economy and challenging negative attitudes and outdated stereotypes.

The themes for this year are 'Full of Life' and the 'Big Skills Share', which have been selected to showcase the range of activities and roles of older people and to provide opportunities for them to share their diverse skills and knowledge with other people of all ages.

To celebrate Older People's Day 2013, SCAN groups have arranged several special events:

• Henley-in-Arden SCAN will be sharing skills and keeping active at an event in the town called 'Fitness, Food and Flowers' on Friday 4 October, 11am to 2pm at the Baptist Church Hall.
  
  
• Shipston-on-Stour SCAN will have a dedicated information stand in Shipston Library throughout next week when the library is open (starting on Monday 30 September). A representative from SCAN will be on hand during this time to answer any questions.
  
  
• Stratford-on-Avon SCAN has chosen to celebrate William Shakespeare at its meeting on Monday 7 October and has secured the Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson to speak on the subject of 'Shakespeare for All', 10.30am to 12 noon at the Wesleyan Church Hall, Old Town.

All the events are free.

Membership is FREE and SCAN Groups welcome new members. 

If you are interested in joining your local SCAN Group, or to find out more information about the events celebrating Older People's Day, please contact Jan Roberts, Policy Officer at Stratford District Council on 01789 260108 or email jan.roberts@stratford-dc.gov.uk.

In fact, there may be much more to SCAN than you first imagined!  
 

• There are six Senior Citizens Action Networks, known informally as SCAN, spread across Stratford-on-Avon District; Alcester, Bidford-on-Avon, Henley-in-Arden, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam and Stratford-upon-Avon, dedicated to getting in touch with local older people.
   
• The group leaders and their committees work tirelessly to enable older residents aged 50+ to have better access to information and services; to influence policy decisions and to come together socially.
  
  
• All SCAN groups hold meetings six times each year and have a diverse range of speakers.  These meetings also provide an opportunity for everyone to 'have their say' on matters of importance to them, whether at a local or national level.
  
  
• A number of SCAN groups are also developing wider activity sessions, such as swimming lessons and cookery sessions, in addition to specialist workshops on key themes, in liaison with professionals and businesses.