ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS 2018-2019
Chair’s Report to the Annual General Meeting 14th May 2019
The annual Chair’s Report gives me an opportunity to reflect on EMLLF over the past year and also gives me the chance to look to the year ahead. It has been a challenging year as we seek funding to continue our activities and ensure sustainability for the future, but it has also been a year of opportunities.
East Midlands Later Life Forum is a strategic partnership between those in later life and organisations from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors across the East Midlands. I believe we demonstrate a high level of professionalism and our aim is to build on this for the future. All who are involved volunteer their time.
What makes the East Midlands Later Life Forum work? – The Forum thrives because of all who bring their lived experience, skills, knowledge and expertise on a wide range of issues that inform and influence our everyday life. My grateful thanks to everyone who has contributed over the last year by:-
• attending our meetings, sub-groups and events;
• reflecting the voices of those in later life from your local communities
• being a member of our Executive team who lead and manage the Forum;
• working in partnership with us, connecting us to organisations, locally, across the East Midlands and nationally
We are grateful to Derby City Council, Artcore in Derby, Leicestershire County Council and the Library in Loughborough for enabling us to use their premises to meet. We have held two full Forum meetings since our AGM last year. six Executive meetings, and four Executive Officers’ meetings. We have also supported our Digital Participation programme of work and this has been included in our bids for funding for the future.
Our activities over the last year
Digital Participation. The Forum has been able to continue with its focus on digital participation and the presentation delivered by Peter Frakes at last year’s AGM has been refined. The DP Sub Group of the Forum has enabled EMLLF to seek funds to support work in communities. This is an ongoing piece of work.
Publications – Many of you will recall our Poverty Workshop. The Report was published in August 2018 “Never Had it So Good!†We do have a few copies remaining on a first come first served basis.
EngAgeNet
EMLLF is a founder member of a nationwide coalition of 7 independent Regional Forums called EngAgeNet. I am one of eight Charity Trustees. It was established to promote the positive voice of older people and to ensure that this voice is listened to by Government, policy makers and the business community.
EngAgeNet has published “A New Narrative on Ageingâ€, with a Foreword by Lord Geoffrey Filkin, Chairman of the Centre for Ageing Better. This publication has been made possible through funding from the Centre for Ageing Better. The publication aims to provide a template for a more positive view of ageing. It focuses on the contribution made by older people and their value to society in order that it can be better understood. Not only is it a necessary attempt to change deeply embedded social attitudes and influence policy, it aims to help older people themselves become more confident about their own personal ageing journey and their place
EngAgeNet has been successful in attracting funding from the National Lottery Awards for All to run a project entitled “Have Your Say – Make a Difference! Mature Conversations© on Ageing.†East Midlands Later Life Forum hosted a Mature Conversation on Technology on the 21st November, funded by EngAgeNet. A similar Technology Mature Conversation was held in the North East. Our Executive and our Digital Participation Group developed the propositions to be discussed in both areas. A comprehensive report has been written from the two Technology events and more about this in the meeting following this AGM. There will be a high profile national launch of all the Mature Conversations in the Autumn in London.
Engagement
The engagement and involvement of older people is at the heart of EMLLF. It is increasingly important for those who have lived experience to be able to share their knowledge and expertise and be consulted in service planning and delivery. Resources for the public sector has seen year on year reductions and funding for engagement is limited although the rewards can be significant. The Forum wishes to undertake a piece of work to explore the policy and practice of engagement across the East Midlands. We have held discussions within the Executive on how it would like to achieve this research. This is still an objective for EMLLF.
Age Action Alliance
The Forum has for several years been an active member of the national Age Action Alliance, attending several of the national working groups. The AAA as it is known is hosted by enei, the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion. We circulate the “Monday Mailing†to our networks. Several of the themed groups have not met for some time, but Peter Frakes attends the Loneliness and Isolation theme and submits reports to EMLLF on a regular basis.
I represent EngAgeNet on the AAA Advisory Board and the Minutes of meetings are published on the website www.ageactionalliance.org.uk
Work with partners
We have continued our partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service and Barry Wilford is our representative on the CPS consultations. Thanks to Grace Moronfolu MBE from the CPS for co-ordinating this valuable activity.
We have a long standing partnership working arrangement with Nottingham University and we welcome Neil Chadborn to our meeting today to talk about current initiatives and where EMLLF can add value to research. Neil is a Public Health Research Fellow at the University Of Nottingham Institute Of Mental Health.
Funding our activities
Any activity has a financial implication and our greatest challenge is to secure sustainability of our funding and our activity. We have a small amount of legacy funding remaining from the Department for Work and Pensions. This is as a result of prudent financial management by Peter Frakes over the last year and previously by Barry Wilford. This has helped to support our core activities.
Our main focus over much of this year has been to apply for funds to sustain our activity and support our core activities to enable us to operate. We were invited to submit a first stage application for up to £50,000 to the Big Lottery People’s Project. We submitted an application in September based on our Poverty Workshop and our digital project. Unfortunately we were not selected for the next stage. We have continued to submit applications to support our core activity and programmes of work. It often takes a long time from application to hearing the outcome of a funding application.
Our priorities for the future
ï¶ Secure ongoing funding
ï¶ Revisit our engagement strategy to keep us relevant and fit for purpose;
ï¶ Broaden our membership to ensure that we are open to all and extend our reach, especially encouraging new members from local areas;
ï¶ Consider changing the way we work and we wish to consult on making our meetings workshop based on key themes.
ï¶ Deliver on our digital participation work.
ï¶ Increase our partnership across all sectors, and
ï¶ Continue to enable those in later life to have their voices heard and be listened to.
And finally I wish to thank our excellent Executive team who lead and manage the Forum, Chris Wheeldon – Vice Chair, Peter Frakes – Treasurer, Barry Wilford (ex-officio), Jo Smith,
John Kerry, Ray Hutchins and Keith Glossop. All volunteer their time. We are ably assisted by Janice Cooper, who is our Secretariat, who minutes our meetings and keeps us all on track. Janice is a great support to us all in our roles and me in particular. Thank you Janice.
My personal thanks to you all for continuing to support the Forum. We cannot change the past but through our experience we can help shape the future for people of all ages. What a challenge for 2020.
Elizabeth Mandeville (Chair)
14th May 2019
Janice Cooper, 14th May 2019