Adding life to years
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Explore, Engage, Evolve Seniors Festival 2024


Explore, Engage, Evolve Seniors Festival 2024

Summary

This year, Macedon Ranges Shire Council are putting together “FREE Come & Try” events across the shire to encourage participation in new activities, groups and social events as part of the October 2024 Seniors Festival. Aimed at promoting healthy ageing in the community that are designed to encourage older adults to engage in activities that enhance their physical, mental, and social well-being. These events typically offer a range of activities and workshops at no cost, allowing participants to explore new interests and discover ways to improve their health and quality of life.

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Sector(s): Education, Health, Other

Desired outcome for older people:
Learn, grow and make decisions

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Ageism
  • Accessibility
  • Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
  • Inclusion
  • Participation

Contact details

Name: Hayley Short

Email address: hshort@mrsc.vic.gov.au


Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Other

Others involved in the project:
  • Civil Society Organisation
  • Older People’s Association
  • Social or health care provider

How collaboration worked: We partnered with service providers, community organisations, and local businesses to organise the “Free Come & Try” events. The scheduling and coordination of these events, along with liaison with the participating groups, were managed by officers and a Coordinator within the Community Connections Unit. Funding was provided by the State Government and Council also contributed financially to ensure the success of the festival.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: The festival was designed with older people as the central focus, serving as the driving force behind its creation. Prior to the event, we actively sought their input, encouraging them to share their preferences regarding activities and events they would like to participate in, should the festival proceed. Once the festival was approved and organized, older individuals directly engaged in the events and activities. They also participated in post-event consultations, providing valuable feedback.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: No

Do you plan to evaluate your age-friendly practice? Yes

Feedback:
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with significant success in fostering new hobbies and expanding programs to include additional groups targeted at older adults. However, due to the large number of activities available, some older residents were unable to participate in their preferred events due to scheduling conflicts. Despite this, our participants are already eager and excited for the upcoming year!

Expansion plans:
Yes, due to the popularity of this event we are planning on running the festival again during October 2025.

Looking back

Reflections:
Advertising in local papers distributed at different times resulted in events being booked out prior to others knowing about the event.​ Allow room for error/amendments in advertising information for events​. Transport issues across Macedon Ranges Shire present.​ Need for more scheduled session times to reduce clashes with other groups and increase availability to attend multiple events.​ Weather impacts attendance for outdoor events​. More promotion of inclusivity for events (not just for older adults but family/carer/friend can attend with older persons) ​

Challenges:
Late amendments and additional event registrations presented challenges, as they could not be included in certain promotional materials. Furthermore, holding multiple events on the same day resulted in reduced attendance at each individual event. To address this in the future, we plan to reduce the number of events held on a single day while maintaining a diverse range of activities to avoid scheduling conflicts.