Photography competition celebrating ageing launched

The Age Action Alliance marks its anniversary and Older People's Day with a photography competition celebrating later life.

This week Age Action Alliance celebrates its second anniversary. The network for partnership working and practical action between older people and organisations, supported by Age UK, now has more than 400 members committed to improving older people's lives.

To mark this milestone, the Alliance is launching its first ever photography competition - All about ageing.

Many images used in the media depict older people as frail and vulnerable or at the other extreme undertaking some extreme sporting challenge. The competition aims to generate positive images of ageing which challenge these common stereotypes.

Celebrating age

The competition is scheduled to coincide with UN Older People's Day on 1 October, and it is hoped that older people and others of all ages will use it as an opportunity to capture diverse images under the following categories:

• Celebrating Age - Recognising older people's contribution to society
• Diverse Ageing - Improving attitudes to ageing across society
• Mind the Gap - Skill sharing and knowledge transfer across age groups
• Digital World - Encouraging digital learning and inclusion
• Ageing Themes - Images linked to the Age Action Alliance themes

The competition opens on 30 September and closes at the end of October 2013. Full details, including terms and conditions, are available on the Alliance website at www.ageactionalliance.org.

As Alliance members, Age UK and others will use the images to support their work to improve later life in partnership with others.

Age UK is encouraging you to get snapping and help others to do the same.

If you use social media, please follow the Alliance and support the competition at facebook.com/ageactionalliance and @AgeActAlliance using the hashtag #AAApics

Age Action Alliance

The Age Action Alliance was launched in 2011 in response to a growing recognition of the need to adapt for an ageing society.

The Alliance aims to bring together older people and cross-sector organisations to address the challenges of our ageing demographics and celebrate the opportunities that it brings.

Its vision, shaped by older people and organisations themselves, is to improve the quality of later life through partnership, working between members and older people to promote communities in which older people feel secure, valued and able to contribute to society.