North Norfolk's First Forum for Older People

Copyright NNDC

Picture: Roy Haynes, NNDC Champion for Older People, welcomes everyone to the Forum on 14 June

Were you born in the early 1950s or before? Do you have concerns about your middle age and beyond? Do you have suggestions for improving the quality of life for older people, but nowhere to go with your good ideas?

If you have answered 'yes' to all these questions and you live or work in North Norfolk, then a special forum, to be held next month, could be the ideal opportunity for you.

The North Norfolk Older People's Forum will be open to anyone who is aged 50 years or over, and wants to suggest ways of solving problems and meeting needs. As well as including presentations and discussion groups, the forum will include a panel of the District's key service-providers and decision-makers, who will respond to questions and comments from the floor.

The panellists will be Jim Smerton, Chief Inspector of the Norfolk Constabulary; Karen Wadham, District Manager of Community Care; Bruce Barrell, Chief Executive of North Norfolk District Council (NNDC); and Ruth Langslow, NNDC's Director of Community Services. Norman Lamb MP, and Diana Clarke, Chief Executive of North Norfolk Primary Care Trust, have also been invited to join the panel.

"This special occasion will provide everyone with the perfect opportunity to voice their ideas and opinions," said Roy Haynes, NNDC's Older People's Champion, who will introduce and chair the forum. "More importantly, there will be influential people there to listen, and we'll all be able to work together to see some real changes and improvements to the lives of older people. Indeed, if this one-off forum proves to be popular and successful, a permanent Older People's Forum might be set up, to meet on a regular basis and link into the existing countywide forum for older people."

Organised by the North Norfolk Health Forum, the Older People's Forum will be held at NNDC's offices in Holt Road, Cromer, on Friday 14 June, from 12 noon until 4.30pm. A light buffet lunch will be provided.

For more information about the forum, and to book a place on a first-come, first-served basis, please contact Sonia Shuter, NNDC's Health Improvement Officer on 01263 516173, or email env-health@north-norfolk.gov.uk