Parish, Town and Communities Council Conference - Active Ageing

On Friday 26th April 2024, the Herts Sport & Physical Activity Partnership (HSP) is organising its bi-annual virtual conference for Parish, Town and Communities Councils, which this year will focus on the important role of those local councils in improving the quality of life for Hertfordshire's older adults.

The morning event will be kicked off by Active Ageing Champion, Sir Muir Gray - knighted for his services to the NHS - who will talk about the importance of staying active in support of a healthy lifespan for the growing over 65s population which is set to rise by over 82,000 in Hertfordshire by 2043. Sir Muir will also outline the success of the Live Longer Better in Hertfordshire movement over the past couple of years and the important role played by Parish and Town councils in this.

The event, which will also include a presentation by CEO of the National Association of Local Councils, Jonathan Owen, will showcase good practice from around the country, where local councils have been proactive in their approach to encouraging Active Ageing, and will also highlight the support for those councils - in terms of funding, advice and resources - that is available from HSP.

In launching the event, the Partnership's Active Ageing Lead Officer, Charlotte Bird said:

"Our Parish, Town and Communities Councils play a vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our older residents. They are often the custodians of local facilities, including village halls, which are used for activity classes. They oversee open spaces and recreational areas, and they offer invaluable support and advice, and some are even able to provide funding to support related initiatives. Most importantly, they are the embodiment of localism and have a relationship with and an understanding of the need of very local communities.

Often, these communities are geographically isolated, and in many cases face recreational and social deprivation. Some are not particularly well served by transport links and as such, programmes that encourage older adults in these areas to stay active, need to be very local.

We are indebted to the role played by these councils as part of our Live Longer Better in Hertfordshire movement. The forthcoming conference will celebrate the work currently undertaken and hopefully will stimulate some thoughts and discussions about what might be possible in the future, and how we as the Active Partnership for Hertfordshire can support that development.

We have a packed conference programme, featuring some high-profile speakers, and I would urge all those elected members and officers that form part of Hertfordshire's wider Parish, Town and Communities Councils' workforce to join us for what I am sure will be an interesting, insightful and enjoyable event.

The FREE event will take place from 10.00am-1:00pm and those wishing to attend can register following the below link