Welcome to the website for the York Older People’s Assembly

For details of the Assembly and of events and information for older people, please click on the links on the menu above or the links below, alternatively contact us by post or email.

A letter from Jim Cannon, Yopa Chair

March 2024

Dear Members and Friends,

Our Spring Newsletter is now being distributed – please find a copy on our website or enclosed with this letter. Thank you for feedback; we welcome comments and contribution.

Our next Open meeting is on Monday 18^th March 2024 at 2pm at Friends Meeting House.

Emma Olandj is the Director of Community Services, Nimbuscare, and leads on the Frailty Hub initiative. This has now been running at Acomb Garth since 1^st November 2023 and offers a first port of call for crisis activity to older or vulnerable people. Emma will be explaining how it works and update us on the progress to date.

The Falls Prevention service is run by City of York Council and aims to help people stay in their homes. The service covers falls prevention/handy person services, adaptations and energy efficiency grants while helping tenants in Private Rented homes using a regulatory approach.

Both of these topics are about helping those in greatest need so if you want to find out more for either yourself or somebody else, come along and join in. Bring a friend and ask your questions or set out your views. Refreshments will be available.

Dial & Ride

A cross-party group of councillors is asking York residents who used the Dial & Ride service to let them know what it meant to them and what the impact has been since the service ended in December. Further details are in a separate note with this  letter.

Membership Year

Our membership year runs from April to March. Therefore membership subscriptions for 2024 are now due and remain at only £5 per member (£10 for couples) – extra donations are very welcome.

Cost of postage is increasing and mailing paper copies of the Newsletter costs more than we receive in the basic membership so if you have a paper copy posted to you, please consider increasing your donation.

During the last year, we have switched banks to Lloyds Bank.  It is enormously helpful to us if people can pay by Standing Order (SO). For those who already do so then please change your standing order to our new bank account. Let us know if you need help in setting up a standing order. More details are set out on the reverse of this letter.

The Age Friendly York Citizens Group is open to all older people in York and details are available at AgeFriendlyYork@york.gov.uk. The Group meets on the first Thursday of every other month at West Offices from 10 – 11.30am with the next meeting on 4^th April. – all are welcome.

Subscription Information for 2024

Previously anyone who had consented to receive information from YOPA has been classified as a Member. In accordance with the Constitution, a Member is defined as someone who has paid an annual subscription. Currently YOPA has 276 individuals who have consented to receive information from us but not all of whom have paid a subscription.

At the AGM, it was agreed that a new classification would be introduced called a Supporter.

Going forward the term Member will be used for an individual who has paid the annual subscription and the term Supporter will be used for the rest.

Members will have the right to vote at a General Meeting, whilst Supporters will not.

What this means for you

Everyone who is currently on our database will remain as either a Member or Supporter, unless you let us know that you wish to be removed.

The benefits of belonging to YOPA include –

• Regular Open meetings for you and your friends at which matters relating to older people in York are covered/talked about/discussed.
• 4 Newsletters a year with articles of interest to older people
• Information Fairs with many stands of local older people’s organisations
• Annual 50+ Festival with dozens of events across the City ranging from exercise and fitness to local history, music and gardening.
• During 2023 we held public meetings while we spent a lot of time working with York Council and others to maintain our visibility and continue to register the needs of older people.

Please consider paying by Standing Order to improve our efficiency. Our new bank account details are as follows: –             Account Name:  York Older People’s Assembly

Bank:                       Lloyds Bank

Sort Code:               30-99-50

Account Number:    77997668

Please note it is ESSENTIAL to ask your Bank to quote your full name on the instructions from them to our Bank. If you have any queries, please phone the office, or call our Treasurer Shirley Reed on 01759-372993.

We welcome donations and several members add a donation to their subscription.

Gift Aid

We can also claim Gift Aid from the government for those who pay income or capital gains tax. If this applies to you, please let us know and we can send you a form which will allow us to claim an extra 25% on your subscription and donations.

We hope that you will choose to continue to be a Member of YOPA and look forward to seeing you at one of our future events.

Jim Cannon

Chair, York Older People’s Assembly, Email: yopachair@outlook.com                                                             

                                            

City of York Council – Scrutiny Task & Finish Group – Dial & Ride

A cross-party group of councillors is asking York residents who used the Dial & Ride service to let them know what it meant to them and what the impact has been since the service ended in December.

The Dial & Ride bus service provided travel options for York residents who are older or disabled and was run by local charity York Wheels, supported by a grant from City of York Council. The service closed on 31 December due to problems with maintenance and third-party suppliers.

Councillors Jane Burton (Labour), Chris Steward (Conservative) and Stephen Fenton (Lib Dem) have formed a Task & Finish Group with the aim of  establishing whether there remains a need for a Dial & Ride-type service in York and if so, what a reinstated service might look like. They are gathering information from those who were involved in running the service and now want to hear from service users.

We know that the service was valued by many and the Task Group want to better understand how Dial & Ride supported people to live independent lives and what the impact has been since its withdrawal. This will be key in enabling the Group to draft recommendations on possible next steps.

Residents who would like to share their views are invited to call Cllr Fenton on 07751 963215 or e-mail cllr.sfenton@york.gov.uk

Age Friendly York

https://twitter.com/yopayork

Contact us

If you are an older person and interested in learning more about the work of YOPA and perhaps becoming a member, browse this website, send us an email, or come to one of our Open Meetings.

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