Older People's Strategy - Newcastle City Council

57 Age Concern Newcastle, which provides a wide range ofactivities and courses to over 1,000 older people per weekand also runs a very popular café offering healthy food. Dementia Care Partnership offers activities with specialistsupport but also provides a gym, activity groups and ahealthy eating cafe open to the wider community. A number of voluntary organisations which support activitieswithin specialist groups e.g. Newcastle Society for BlindPeople, or within particular geographical areas e.g. SearchProject, or special interest groups e.g. MetropolitanCommunity Church, or cultural groups e.g. South MountainChinese Club or Roshni. The Leisure, Pleasure and Learning group has worked overseveral years to promote and support activity in care homes,by taking a variety of approaches from training of care staffto direct support for activity co-ordinators. Generally speaking,provision of activity within care homes is not given high priority,but is very important to the quality of life of residents.Learning and culture‘Older people need to be able to continue to learn, to continuetheir studies and try new ones. This is essential for their mentalhealth.’ (Citylife consultation response)The position of older learners has been adversely affected bychanges in the Learning and Skills Council funding prioritiestowards a narrow focus on the development of skills foremployment. This change is having a significant impact onlearning for leisure and personal development, both in terms of therange of courses available and in the style and cost of provision.