Just a reminder of the The Great Get Together at Crow Wood Park HX2 7JZ on Sunday 7 July, 11:00am-4:00pm.

This is the third event aimed at bringing families together to share conversations, meet local people, play games and have fun.

This year the fun day will include The Burner at Crow Wood Park 2019 – 10km Run, 2.5km Run and Summer Fayre Runs are being organised for all abilities. If you would like to take part please click on the link above.

Lots going on with:

• Bouncy castle
• Traditional games
• Face painting
• Stalls

Bring food and share in a picnic (remember to bring a picnic blanket).

Bring your friends and neighbours.

For up to date information call June on 01422 706373 or Shabir on 07866 369916.

Together Housing are one of the largest housing associations in the North of England, managing over 36,000 homes across Yorkshire and Lancashire.

And now their annual Together Housing Garden Competition is back!
This year there are new categories to enter.

• Community Corner – have you gardened as a team to create and maintain a community garden or area of communal grounds? Then this is the category for you.
• Mini Gardens – small is beautiful, if your floral arrangements are in containers, hanging baskets or in a patio or similar area, enter here.
• Floral Garden/Borders – this is the category for you if you have a floral garden or blossoming borders.
• Children age 5-16 – budding young gardeners should enter this category.
• Gardener of the Year – all competition entrants will be automatically in with a chance of winning this prestigious award.

The closing date for entries is Wednesday 31 July 2019 and the winners will be announced by the end of August.

How to Enter:

Please email three photos of your garden along with the category you would like to enter and your contact details to: involve@togetherhousing.co.uk

Or, post your photos with the category you would like to enter and your contact details to: Christine Fenton, Resident Engagement Assistant, Prospect House, Wharf Street, Blackburn, BB1 1JD.

In collaboration with Age UK, the Older Men at the Margins project identified ways of alleviating loneliness and reducing isolation for older men (65+ years of age) across hard-to-reach and seldom-heard groups. This included older men who  are single or living alone in urban and  rural areas; older gay men who are  single or living alone; older men with hearing loss; and older men who are  carers for significant others (family members, partners).

Between 2017 and 2018, 111 men (6595 years of age) from the above groups across the south west and west of England took part in interviews and shared their experiences of combatting loneliness and social isolation in later life. The overall aim was to better understand the ways in which marginalised or seldom-heard groups of older men seek to maintain social engagement and social participation in later life.

This included participation in groups targeted at reducing loneliness and social isolation. The research identified ways in which social care and community-based services could take better account of the social wellbeing of older men. This guidance sets out the learning from the research and highlights important factors to be considered to meet the diverse needs of older men through group programmes and interventions. It will be of use to professionals and services who wish to set up groups, or who are already running groups for older people.

Read Full Report

Here’s an Anchor Hanover report in  association with Demos that looks at inactivity in later life and its wider implications.

Below is the Executive Summary of the report, with a link to the full report here and at the foot of the text:

There has been considerable research undertaken, particularly over the past decade, exploring the impacts of our ageing population – the health and social care costs this demographic shift will generate, the so called “loneliness epidemic” and the need for more age appropriate housing, to name a few. However, physical inactivity – one of the key drivers of the physical and mental health challenges associated with later life, not to mention social isolation – remains underexplored and not consistently addressed.

Levels of physical inactivity among older people are striking and have remained stubbornly high for many years – 25.1% of adults in England are classed as “inactive” (i.e. engaging in less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per week), but this rises to 28% of  55- 74 year olds, 47% of 75 – 84 year olds, and a staggering 70% of the over 85s.1  

Drawing on over 80 studies concerning physical activity, as well as the findings of a new survey of experiences and attitudes to physical activity among more than 1,000 people aged 55 and over commissioned by Anchor Hanover, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for older people, this report explains:

• How inactivity is linked to a range of health problems and includes an estimate of some of the costs to individuals and wider society associated with this;
• The benefits of increased activity rates among older people;
• Lessons in overcoming the barriers to older people’s improved activity rates as we look to tackle the inactivity crisis through new approaches. The report also follows best practice methodology to estimate the cost of physical inactivity to the National Health Service (NHS), finding:
• Physical inactivity will directly cost the NHS £723m in the 2019/2020  financial year
• Later life physical inactivity costs the NHS around £92m a year based on 2013/2014 data
• Later life physical inactivity will cost the NHS £103m this year rising to £120m by 2030 based on population projections
• If left unaddressed the NHS will spend over £1.3bn on later life physical  inactivity in real terms between now and 2030
• Physical inactivity was responsible for 23,881 avoidable deaths in 2017.

Read full report