+ Past Events
Meet the Mayoral Candidates Event
15 April 2024
People aged 50+ from across Greater Manchester came together to share the things that mattered to them with the candidates for the GM Mayoral Election.
Watch the event video here
Living it up in Later Life
16th October 2023
As well as our regular workshops, presentations, and market place we had a dance taster session from one of our members, Hazel Roy, and a fantastic performance from Golden Voice Choir. Thanks to everyone who supported the event and brought such a fun element to the day.
This was our first event bringing together members of the GM Older People’s Network, Mature Minds Matter and the Greater Manchester Older People’s Equality Panel and we were pleased to welcome lots of new faces as well as some of you we’d not seen for some time.
The workshop saw members discuss what a good later life meant to them and what could be done to support that. Insights have been brought together in the Living it up in Later Life Report.
Illustrator, Tom Bailey, captured some of the key ideas that were talked about in cartoon-form and Talking About my Generation, the UK’s first news platform by and for older people, produced a video about the event which you can watch here.
+ Greater Manchester Care Record Project - Focus Group
25 November 2021
We would like to thank our members who attended our focus group in partnership with Health Innovation Manchester on Thursday 25th November on Zoom. The focus group was about sharing information about the GM Care Record and hearing about why you think older people might be concerned or more likely to opt out.
We really appreciate you taking the time to share your opinions and experiences.
The Greater Manchester (GM) Care Record gives workers in health or social care, easy access to patient information that is critical to support decision-making about patient care and treatment.
Everyone in Greater Manchester who receives care from the NHS or social services is automatically included in the record, unless they ask to be excluded.
To find out more information about the Greater Manchester Care Record, visit this website.
Past research has shown that there are particular groups of people who have shown a higher than average level of concern or propensity to opt-out of other joined up care records in the past. Older people are one of the groups more likely to express concern and/or opt out.
Below is a series of images created by Illustrator Tom Bailey, who collected participants' comments throughout the meeting and turned them into fantastic art work.
+ GMOPN Christmas Quiz
16 December, 1:30-3:30
We would like to wish all of our members a very merry Christmas!
Despite the many challenges of the last year, we have enjoyed working with you all on so many different projects to continue to get older people’s voices heard.
As the festive season is upon us, it’s nearly time for the GMOPN Christmas quiz! Join us on 16th December 1:30-3:30 on Zoom for some festive fun. Get revising the names of Santa’s reindeers or Christmas number ones, you never know what might pop up.
There are six rounds in the Christmas quiz and there will be prizes for each round winner and an overall winner and runner up.
Grab yourself a mince pie and a pen and paper and get your thinking caps on.
Below are the joining instructions for Zoom:
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83279521732?pwd=aktlemVkWG12cks0WmhFUUFIV3l3Zz09
Meeting ID: 832 7952 1732 Passcode: 076683
If you would like to come along, please let us know by emailing gmopn@macc.org.uk or telephone 0161 834 9823.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued commitment to the Network and we very much hope to see you on Thursday.
+ International Day of Older Persons
1 October 2021
International Day of Older Persons was on 1st October and to celebrate, the GMOPN teamed up with Talking about My Generation to launch a new campaign called This is What an Activist Looks Like. The campaign featured older and younger activists in their communities and showed how generations are working together to tackle climate change.
The activists came together to launch the video on 1st October, 2-3:30 at a public living library event at Manchester Central Library. There they shared their stories and inspired others to make changes too. A living library event allowed visitors to browse the ‘bookcases’ and chose the ‘story’ they wanted to listen to, pull up a pew, and have a conversation with their chosen activist, who was all set to share their personal stories about their activism to inspire all generations to act.
Chair of the GMOPN Steering Group, Elaine Unegbu, said, "We wanted to share a positive message about how important it is for the generations to come together to tackle big issues like climate change. This is not about young versus old, it’s about all of us doing our bit, as individuals and in our communities. We can all do something and so many people are playing their part already and enjoying themselves in the process. Climate change is a serious business but you can still have fun and make a difference at the same time. We need to celebrate what people are already doing and inspire others to do the same. Ageism tries to divide generations - but the fight against climate change is uniting them."
+ Watch the event launch
An Activist Lesson pack for primary schools was also created. The pack was designed to inspire our next generation and show that we can all be activists and make a difference in our own way, supporting our communities and coming together to tackle the big issues like climate change.
Download a “This is what an Activist looks like” lesson pack here.
GMOPN members developed this campaign through our Representation and Ageism Campaign Group, where we developed the key messages and tone for the campaign. The network wanted to show older people making a contribution and generations working together in a positive way, challenging damaging divisions between old and young. The campaign links with an overall theme for Older People’s Day this year #OlderAndGreener.
+ Watch the video
+ Future of Ageing Open Forum
18 August 2021
On 18th August 2021, the GMOPN worked with Sonder Radio to produce a radio broadcast about what science and technology might mean for people as they get older. The session was then used to support the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ project on the future of ageing.
Hosted by Emma Goswell, the virtual audience discussed the ethical implications of the emerging role of science and technology in helping people live well in older age. It was a fantastic workshop and participants had the opportunity to share their valuable input, discussing issues such as their concerns around getting older and what the future of living well in older age might look like.
The event included a performance from renowned poet Roger McGough, who read his poem Love later life, a piece commissioned by Age UK in 2014. It also included performances from musician Martin Stephenson who performed Old and Only in The Way. The performances were used to open the discussions with the participants around issues such as their concerns around getting older, the technologies that might be used to support them in older age, and what the future of living well in older age might look like.
+ Listen to the session
+ Gender based violence workshop
3 August 2021
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) developed a strategy to tackle gender-based violence. Through the strategy, they aimed to lead a comprehensive, responsive programme of service delivery that enhanced the safety of women and girls, while preventing gender-based violence and challenging the attitudes and inequalities that enable it.
The Greater Manchester Older People’s Network hosted a session specifically to engage with older women that took place on Tuesday 3rd August 2021. At the workshop, members shared their thoughts about the Greater Manchester Strategy, and gave their valuable input to make sure the voices of older women are heard.
Until recently, people aged 75 and over were not included in national statistics in domestic violence. Thanks to campaigning by Age UK and others, this has now changed but we want to make sure that older women’s voices continued to be heard on the issue of gender-based violence.
For more information on Age UK’s recent campaign you can read more on their website.
+ From ideas to influence: making your experience count
6 May 2021
On 6th May 2021 we held our online event, From ideas to influence: making your experience count, in collaboration with the University of Manchester’s Healthy Ageing research team. The event was co-designed and delivered by a member of the GMOPN who worked to make the online experience as inclusive and interactive as possible. The aim of the event was to encourage older people from diverse backgrounds to get involved in research as experts by experience and to explore the barriers to participation. Over 65 people attended and brought their experience to explore how research could encourage older people from all backgrounds to be involved and contribute. It was also an opportunity to share some of the work developed as part of the GMOPN’s collaboration with the University, including the Keeping Well Campaign. The GMOPN are in the process of writing a report, bringing together insights from the workshops about the barriers to involvement. This will be available soon.
+ Watch the event recording
We heard from fantastic speakers at the event. These included Professor Chris Todd from the University of Manchester who explored the reasons for conducting research and the fundamental role of experts by experience, and Jane Mcdermott from the University of Manchester and Gillian Stainthorpe from the GM Older People's Network who told the story of the Keeping Well Campaign. We also heard from Aneela McAvoy from Health Innovation Manchester, and the other members of our GMOPN Event Planning Group: Judie Collins, Elizabeth Lynskey and Elaine Unegbu.
+ Old Frame New Picture: how older people are represented in the media and what we can do about it?
28 October 2020
On 28 October 2020 the Greater Manchester Older People's Network and Great Place GM hosted an online symposium event called 'Old Frame New Picture: How Older People are represented in the media and what we can do about it?'
Timed to run alongside the Old Frame New Picture photography competition, this online event was an opportunity to examine and discuss the way older people are portrayed in the media with negative and stereotypical images of vulnerability and fragility. Speakers addressed how we can challenge this narrative with one that celebrates the diversity of older people’s lives and their contributions to society.
+ Watch the symposium
The event included presentations and provocations from a range of speakers who drew on professional and personal insights, exploring why we represent older people in this way and how this has been compounded by Covid-19. Presentations were followed by a broader discussion on ageing, media and representation where attendees had the chance to share views and ideas on how we might change the current picture.
+ Influencing the agenda: what matters to older people in Greater Manchester
20 February 2020
If you weren't able to attend on the day and would like to hear the presentations given by our speakers, you can watch the recordings on Youtube.
As indicated in our event title, this day was all about influencing and we know one of the best ways to influence is to bring people together to have conversations and to share ideas. We were therefore overjoyed by how many of our network members came along to share their views and to engage with organisations and decision-makers.
We wanted to make sure that our members had an opportunity to engage with decision makers on a local and national level, so we were thrilled that the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham came along for the afternoon to give an update and to officially launch our new Age Proud photography competition.
+ Age Proud: Exploring Positive Ageing
2 October 2019
On 2 October 2019, we held our 'Age Proud: Exploring Positive Ageing' event. The event coincided with the International Day of Older Persons 2019 and was an opportunity for members of the network to come together to discuss the ways that ageing is currently portrayed in the media. We had a fantastic day hearing from our network members and our fabulous speakers, Joyce Williams, who is an Age Proud blogger and campaigner, Paul McGarry, head of the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub and Mike Dodd from the ‘Talking About my Generation’ Campaign.
+ Ageing Better Celebration Sheffield
9 July 2019
On 9 July 2019, the GMOPN project team and 5 members of the Steering Group travelled to Sheffield to attend the Ageing Better 2019 conference. Not only did we have the pleasure of hearing from Ageing Better programmes from all across the country, we also had the opportunity to deliver a workshop on the topic of Older Person's Voice. Our workshop was really well attended and we received great feedback from delegates! We were particularly proud of our Steering Group members who planned and delivered the workshop.
It was a great conference and we loved having the opportunity to hear about all the fantastic work that is happening across the country and to share ideas with other Ageing Better programmes. Thank you to Age Better in Sheffield for organising a great event!
+ Championing the Voices of Older People: GMOPN participation event, Leigh and Manchester
June 2019
Leigh event
The GMOPN travelled to Leigh to deliver a presentation about the network and to hold a workshop about participation. The GMOPN is all about getting older people's voices heard from all across Manchester so we thought that it was important to go to Leigh to ensure that we're capturing the voices of older people from different areas.
Manchester event
Over 40 members of the GMOPN came together to discuss what good participation looks like at our event in Manchester. We had some great presentations by Jan Kitching, Helen Morris, Warren Heppolette (Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership) and Helen Simpson (Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership). The findings from the day, along with the findings from the event we held in Leigh have been gathered and used to write our new GMOPN guide to participation, which can be found here.
+ Celebrating the GMOPN: Where are we now and where are we going?
8 January 2019
Presentations from the day:
James Baldwin - Transport for Greater Manchester
Video's of the presentations and the panel discussion can be viewed on the Macc Manchester Youtube channel.
On 8 January 2019, members of the Greater Manchester Older People’s Network came together to celebrate everything that the network had achieved so far and to set a campaigning agenda for the year ahead. Members of the network had the opportunity to listen to presentations from James Baldwin from Transport for Greater Manchester, Liz Jones from Macc, Wendy Cocks from Care and Repair and Pascale Robinson from Better Buses Manchester. A panel discussion was also held by Nigel Rose from Macc, with Pam Smith from Stockport council, Warren Heppolette from the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, James Baldwin from Transport for Greater Manchester and Wendy Cocks from Care and Repair.
Click here to view the agenda.
Click here to view tweets from the day.
To see all the photos from the event please click here.
+ The NHS at 70 – Time for an Age-friendly Health and Social Care system
24 May 2018
Approximately 100 of our network members gathered to hear about and discuss health and social care for older people in Greater Manchester in May 2018. It was a fantastic event with great presentations from Warren Heppolette from the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, presenting on GM strategy, and Professor Alistair Burns, NHS England, talking about dementia and older people’s mental health. We also enjoyed music from the Charleston Charlies, from Music in Hospitals and Care, who had the room tapping their feet and clapping along. In the afternoon we discussed how older people in Manchester maintained their health and wellbeing, how systems and services supported people to do this and what needed to change if things were to get better.
