I wonder how many of you knew that 1999 had been designated the Year of the Older Person?

We have a designated year for so many things these days that I suspect that for most of us it has been a well-kept secret.

A well-kept secret not only from us, it would seem, but also from those who have it in their power to make life a

little easier for the older citizens.

I have seen little publicity for the subject and there do not seem to have been many schemes to benefit the target group, either nationally or locally.

It is true that Lewes is running a special day for 'elderly people' (a label which I suspect may not endear the organisers to their target group!) to encourage them to take part in sport and exercise.

At Lewes Leisure Centre a free Active Age Extravaganza will aim to introduce a number of organisations concerned with the wellbeing of the Third Age group to some of their possible members and are looking to provide health checks as well as advice on healthy eating and general welfare.

Very laudable and I'm sure there will be a lot of takers, but it is hardly the kind of activity to lift the soul is it?

The only national coverage the Older Person (!) seems to have attracted is that the Prime Minister is reported to have held a reception at No 10 for some eighty Senior Citizens, who no doubt had a whale of a time, but it did not bring much public recognition for the cause.

Tony Blair apparently made a speech in praise of the generation who, almost singlehandedly, keep the charity shops on the go, run the tea bars in hospitals, and look after those who are even more elderly than they are.

But sadly when it comes to genuine support of a practical kind it is a bit thin on the ground.

One in ten people are reporting discrimination against those over the age of 50 in relation to care in the NHS. A comprehensive survey by the Consumers Association magazine Health Which indicates that about 50 per cent of the Health Authorities have written policies on rationing.

It is fairly safe to assume that those policies are not weighted in favour of the older person.

There has been a major survey of those over 50 who are seeking work in the UK, and about 300,000 are registered with job centres as actively seeking work out of a total of an estimated three million who are classified as 'economically inactive' ('unemployed' to the likes of you and me).

If this sort of discrimination were to be applied to an ethnic minority, all hell would break lose.

The Race Relations Board would have a field day, ably assisted by the Sex Discrimination crowd.

In spite of all the promises to the contrary there are a lot of employers out there who need to understand that in the Year of the Older Person some move toward recognising their worth is urgently needed.

Look for the companies supporting such a programme and support

them.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.