This autumn Christians on Ageing is launching three new activities for its members.
Culture Club will be a bi-monthly Zoom event (with phone access) to discuss a recently released film, book, TV or radio programme or work of art which relates to older people and their interests and concerns in an interesting and provocative way.
- Hallelujah, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Judi Dench, released earlier this year will be the topic at the first Culture Club to be held on 8 September 2023 starting at 1.30 pm and concluding at 3 pm.
We hope that participants will voice their own views about the quality of the film and its depiction of older people and their challenges, and we shall be joined by Catherine Shoard, the film editor at The Guardian, who visited the set and talked to its director and stars. We shall ask attenders for suggestions for the focus of future meetings, but expect soon to examine the film The Great Escaper, starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson, to be released in October.
Meet the Members Many who belong to Christians on Ageing, dotted around the country, are busy with a wide range of activities involving the Church and older people. To find out more about what they are doing and to facilitate contact between them, in September we will release the first Meet The Members – a short article written by a different member on each occasion about their background and current activities relating to older people and the Church.
Finally, in The Older Person Who Has Inspired Me, Christians on Ageing invites its members to share with other members a short article about an older person who has inspired them, from their grandfather to a Greenpeace older activist or the manager of a local care home.
Meet The Members and The Older Person Who Has Inspired Me will be circulated direct to members by email or post.
Members of Christians on Ageing already receive a quarterly journal called plus – see the latest issue here.
But, perhaps the biggest benefit is the knowledge that they are supporting the work of a small voluntary group which aims to address the key issues of the day affecting older people’s spiritual and material needs. For instance, Christians on Ageing has long championed the needs of older people in prison and is currently seeking to ensure every older prisoner in the UK receives a copy of our specially-written free, glossy booklet Seeking a Peaceful Heart: Prayers and Reflections to Help You in Prison.
Information about all the benefits of Christians on Ageing membership and how to join are available here or can be obtained by writing to The Honorary Secretary, Christians on Ageing, 23 Nelson Street, Ryde PO33 2EZ.
