Age Friendly
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Chapter 1: Setting Up An <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> City Or County Programme<br />
optimally, have between ten and 15 members.<br />
fully the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> programme.<br />
Often, the Chief Executive will already know<br />
the senior managers of these public, voluntary<br />
and community sector organisations. If so,<br />
he/she can make an introductory phone call or<br />
promote the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Cities and Counties<br />
Programme at a public function. This initial<br />
contact will then need to be followed up on<br />
with a more detailed meeting to explain more<br />
“<br />
It’s important to point out that many of the goals<br />
of the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> programme will resonate<br />
with goals within their own plans and strategies.<br />
Participation in the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> programme can,<br />
in fact, help various organisations and agencies<br />
move forward with their own strategies for older<br />
people. The Garda Strategy for Older People is a<br />
case in point.<br />
Catherine McGuigan is the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Ireland Regional<br />
Consultant for the North East. She has considerable<br />
experience in supporting the setting up of <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Alliances<br />
in Cavan, Donegal, Fingal, Meath, Leitrim, Louth and Monaghan.<br />
“It’s very important to have the most senior member from each<br />
sector on the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Alliance because it’s a strategic group<br />
which requires its members to be both decision makers and in<br />
charge of budgets,” says McGuigan.<br />
Sarah Wetherald is the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Ireland Regional<br />
Consultant for the West. “<strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> is a good news<br />
story. It’s about smarter thinking and opportunities for people<br />
and organisations to work together and share resources. So<br />
many funding streams in the past have forced people to work<br />
independently rather than collaboratively. The <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong><br />
programme provides the mechanism to redress this.”<br />
”<br />
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