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Age Proud Leeds Festival – join us in a time to feel good about ageing! - Leeds Older People’s Forum
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April 29, 2021

Age Proud Leeds Festival – join us in a time to feel good about ageing!

We are delighted to announce that we are organising Age Proud Leeds Festival!

Running from Monday 6 to Friday 17 September, with a daily programme of activities both online and, Covid permitting, in a range of venues across Leeds, we intend the festival truly to be a time to feel good about ageing. Please join us!

Age Proud Leeds Festival aims to promote and apply the following five ways to wellbeing:

1. Connect – supporting people to make and sustain connections with others

2. Be active – body and mind are linked – activities that get people moving, even if just a little!

3. Keep learning – new skills or rediscovering old ones – be curious!

4. Take notice – appreciating where we are, the moment and the environment

5. Giving – helping others, volunteering, simple acts of kindness

At this planning stage, we would love to hear from any group or organisation who may be interested in running an event, of whatever kind.

So why is it time to have an Age Proud Festival? Well, before we were hit by Covid-19 restrictions, we were all working hard to achieve Leeds’ ambition to be the best city to grow old in. In the past year or so we have seen some turbulent times, to say the least! Not just in Leeds of course, but the world over. And yet, human nature seems to still allow us to focus on the good things in life and the goodness of others. No matter how bleak things looked we stayed hopeful, despite many dark days! As Martin Seligman (author of Learned Optimism) wrote: “Optimists don’t avoid life’s storms, but they weather them better and emerge from them better off.”

Whilst we might all still feel a tad anxious about the virus, optimism and hopefulness are two words that are being more frequently used, and so don’t we deserve something to look forward to? Is it not time to step out of the shadows? Is it not Time to Shine?

Age Proud Leeds (on which we lead, as part of our Friendly Communities project) is a campaign to change negative attitudes towards older people and ageing. One of the key campaign messages is that it is ‘time to feel good about ageing’ – we feel this has never been more true, and we want a positive way for us all to express it. That’s why it’s time to hold a festival!

This great city has so much to offer older people – from Art to Zumba and everything in between! Planning is underway. We don’t know what the festival will include, but it might include exhibitions and art, dancing and choirs, speakers and debates, walks and boat rides, photography and gardening, fashion shows and talent shows, theatre and film! We hope there will be something for everyone!

So please, make a note in your diary for 6-17 September.

Please complete and return this form if you may be interested in organising an activity. We’d love to hear from you.

Linda Glew
Programme Manager (Legacy), Time to Shine