Committed To Becoming More Age-Friendly
Wicklow Ireland
On the 27th November 2014 Councillor Christopher Fox signed the Dublin declaration on behalf of Wicklow. The signing of the Dublin Declaration was a commitment by representatives to a five year cycle of continual assessment and improvements to make their communities more age friendly. Therefore, as part of that commitment Wicklow County Council in partnership with various stakeholders introduced the age friendly programme and principles for County Wicklow.
On the 12th November 2015 Wicklow continued on its Age Friendly journey with the establishment and first meeting of the County Wicklow Age Friendly Alliance. It joined together people from different agencies committed to working together for the benefit of older people and to make County Wicklow a great place to live and grow old in. The Alliance is the high-level overarching strategic partnership that oversees the development and realisation of the goals and actions of County Wicklow Age Friendly Strategy 2017 – 2022
Throughout the making of the strategy the focus was on a strategy developed with and by older people in the county and not a strategy for older people. The views and opinions of the older people in County Wicklow are the foundation and the heart of the strategy. It presented a new partnership approach to meeting the needs of older people across the county. The underlying vision and aims of this strategy recognises that the older people in County Wicklow are not a homogenous group but have different needs and requirements which are influenced by age, health status, geography, background, disposable income and quality of life.
Mary Butler, TD, Minster for Mental Health and Older People attended a reception at Wicklow County Council, County Buildings, on Monday 27th February to launch the new County Wicklow Age Friendly Strategy 2023-27.
The Wicklow Age Friendly Strategy 2023 – 2027 was developed by the Wicklow Age Friendly County Alliance, following an extensive consultation with older people throughout the county. Their views were collected through a series of public consultations, to ensure that older people’s needs were considered and addressed by the 5 year strategy.
In developing the strategy, the Alliance adopted the Age Friendly Ireland model and World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Age-friendly Cities and Communities framework.
