The Age Proud Festival 2021 took place between 6-17 September 2021 at a range of venues across the city, as well as lots of virtual events hosted by various organisations. Leeds City Council invited organisations to deliver a wide range of activities and events for older people to experience and enjoy.
The Asha Neighbourhood Project, based on Stratford Street in Beeston, organised two picnics both of which took place at Cross Flatts Park near the Pavilion Café.
Ten women from the Asha Older Women’s Group and eight women from the Asha Peer Support Group brought picnic food that represented their ethnic origin and wore traditional outfits to celebrate being Age Proud. The picnic in the park gave an opportunity for the older women to create memories with younger women.
The aim was to use the picnics as a way of improving the women’s social skills and improve their relationships with family, friends and neighbours. Another aim was to reduce social isolation and improve community cohesion; a chance to interact with older people from different faiths and communities.
It was also a chance to celebrate the diversity of older people. The younger women prompted the conversations – asking the older women to tell their life stories as they gathered around for picnic food. Women enjoyed the opportunity to relive and reflect on their memories.
Coming up: Asha is continuing the celebrations by taking another group of older and younger people to the Pugney’s Country Park in Wakefield for a picnic and a walk on 4 October.
This post was written by Tahena Ahmed
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