DURING Age Concern Week, Age Concern Wirral (AGW) will be celebrating its work for and on behalf of local older people. The message is simple: Age Concern makes a difference to the lives of all older people, whatever their circumstances.

AGW has been working in the local community for over 50 years, providing a range of activities and services for the over 55s - from the fit and active to the more frail and dependent. These services now include day care, lunch clubs, information and advocacy services, insurance, support of carers plus a range of activities to promote a positive and healthy approach to later life such as safe exercise classes, travel club, tap, tea and line dancing, art and craft groups. With support from AGW's 250 voluteers, over 1,000 local older people benefit every week.

AGW relies on the generous support of the public to fund its work with older people.

"During Age Concern Week, as well as in September and October, we will highlight the important work we do and show the difference we can make to older people's lives. Of course, none of this would be possible without the public's generosity with time and money," said Tasmin Ryall Harvey, fund-raising & media officer.

Over the last 50 years there has been a dramatic change in the outlook of older people and society to ageing. At one time retirement was a reason to put your feet up and reminisce about the past. Nowadays, men and women in their 70s, 80s and 90s are out and about indulging in a wide range of recreational activities often providing extremely effective services for the community and making an important contribution.

If you retire at 60 you may have a third of your life ahead of you. The fact that you have so much time at your disposal over a long period of time makes it all the more crucial to make good use of it. In this period of life many people discover talents and skills they never knew they had.

Organisations such as Age Concern Wirral offer a wide range of services and activities for the over 50s promoting a positive and healthy approach to later life such as safe exercise classes, tap, line and tea dances, water-colour & encaustic art classes, music & craft groups, travel club with day trips, UK and European holidays - all operated with the support of some 250 volunteers.

If you miss working with other people and have time and energy to spare working as a volunteer can be extremely satisfying. It can enable you to put skill you have acquired into good use or alternatively, it can give you the chance to do something completely different from pre-retirement job and perhaps develop new skills.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.