I used to be a volunteer with Age Concern (now Age UK) until the funding ran out for the scheme. Since then I have begun to feel more and more alienated from the charity, mainly as a result of the publicity surveys it does.
Age UK are forever publishing surveys too show how vulnerable poor and needy older people are and, yes, I do realise that many old people are poor, disabled and vulnerable, but so are many other sections of the population and many older people, particularly those in their 60s and 70s are none of these things. I think Age UK do a lot of harm to older people as a whole by constantly portraying us as needy.
I was particularly offended by a recent report suggesting that if you didnt see family members at least weekly and friends similarly you were living a lonely isolated life. I do not see my family weekly because none live anywhere near us, nor do I see close friends frequently for the same reason but DH are out and about taking part in activities involving other people almost daily while we are in daily email contact with both our children and frequently email other friends and family.
I would like to see more surveys coming out showing how much we contribute to the economy through taxes, how important the money we spend is to supporting local stores and the local economy because I am sure we are more likely to shop locally, whether we live in a rural or urban area.
While Age Concern keeps harping about how miserable it is being old and completely ignores the positives I really do not want Gransnet to be placing the Age Concern banner on the Gransnet site.
but it's probably my age.
