Make London’s Boroughs Age Friendly!

Against the background of a crisis in adult social care, Age UK Lambeth wants to make Lambeth Age Friendly, with a brand new manifesto for the upcoming London borough council elections on May 3rd. Diana Kahn, the Chair of Age UK Lambeth, says:

“I call on all candidates in the Lambeth local elections in May 2018 to support this manifesto from Age UKs in London.  Age UKs across London are committed to making sure that older people in London, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or circumstance, are able to enjoy a fulfilling and valued life, and we hope that whatever your political party you will state your support for this aim and the recommendations in this manifesto.”  The full manifesto can be downloaded from the Age UK London website:https://bit.ly/2Gecod1

Age UK Lambeth calls on candidates in the London borough council elections to commit to making changes in five key areas:

1. Quality, responsive local care services: We call on candidates to:

• Give top political priority to ensuring that older people with identified care needs are not left without support

2. Age Friendly Boroughs and Neighbourhoods: We call on candidates to:

• Bring the borough into line with the World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly Cities approach and cooperate with other local authorities and the Mayor of London to develop this concept.

• Work to make the borough dementia friendly if this is not already in progress.

3. Better Communication with Older People: We call on candidates to:

• Make information and advice accessible to all older Londoners, including disabled people with physical and sensory impairments and those who are not online

4. Make London’s Housing Age Friendly: We call on candidates to:

• Ensure provision of more genuinely affordable, accessible housing to rent (long term) and buy for people of all ages; meet at least the London Plan targets for provision of good quality, affordable specialist housing for older people.

5. Accessible Transport for Older Londoners: We call on candidates to:

• Ensure that the borough supports retention of the Freedom Pass and TfL 60+ Oyster Photocard and that they are not means tested. 

As London grows, the number of older Londoners is increasing too. A socially and economically diverse group, older Londoners contribute massively to every borough of the capital, as workers, volunteers, carers, and much more besides. However, a large number of older Londoners are living below the poverty line and the pressure on local government finances has driven adult social care to breaking point. Action must be taken to ensure London can remain a great place to grow older.

• Age UK Lambeth is an independent  local charity which provides hands-on local support mainly to older Londoners: providing advice, enabling independence, and combatting loneliness.

• In 2016, over a million Londoners were aged 65+ and 140,000 of those were aged 85+.

• Over half of Londoners aged 65+ have a long-term health condition or are disabled and in 2017 almost 67,000 older Londoners were estimated to be living with dementia.

• The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness found that “more than 1 in 3 people aged 75 and over say that feelings of loneliness are out of their control.”

• 36.7% of Londoners over 65 were born outside of the UK.