Archives for February 2024

SOPA Working Groups

February 25, 2024 by P4S-Dasha

SOPA have agreed on three priority topics for discussion by members’ working groups which will be established in the next month or so. The working groups are asked to tackle priority issues at some Zoom meetings over a period of two to three months and make recommendations on action to the Board of Trustees. The first three topics are:

Social Care (we anticipate several working groups tackling various aspects of Social Care over the life of the three-year plan)
The potential pros and cons of the proposed Older People’s Commissioner in Scotland
The impact of social isolation and ways in which it might be tackled in Scotland

Further details about how to join these groups will be sent out shortly to members.

However, in the meantime, if you are interested, in participating in any of these groups please email me at hetty@scotopa.org.uk.

Exciting Development as Perth & Kinross Council Join UK Network and More

February 25, 2024 by P4S-Dasha

Scottish Older People’s Assembly (SOPA) is the lead organisation in Scotland promoting Age-friendly Communities (AfCs). SOPA’s Project Co-ordinator, Tony Donohoe, is working with representatives from different areas around Scotland to adopt the AfC approach and become part of a global movement, supported by the World Health Organisation.

SOPA Annual General Meeting on 29th January 2024 in Glasgow

February 25, 2024 by P4S-Dasha

SOPA’s Chair, David Paterson, warmly welcomed 37 of our members and associate members to the 2022/23 annual general meeting. Due to a clash of dates with another partner organisation, SOPA moved its usual December AGM to last month.

Nonetheless, we were delighted to see so many representatives from our member organisations attending in person, especially as the weather that week had been bad enough to cause public transport difficulties.

Several others attended online, including members from the Highlands to the Scottish Borders.

Venue

Despite the cold and wet winter weather that day, we were comfortable and warm in the relatively new refurbished meeting facilities at Mackintosh At The Willow.

Formerly known as the Willow Tearooms, it is considered by many to be an art nouveau masterpiece designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Chair’s Report

The Chair thanked our Lead Officer, Hetty Malcolm-Smith, for all her work in organising the AGM and for all her work during the past year.

He reported that last year SOPA had continued to earnestly promote the voice of older people through a range of initiatives.

These included a parliamentary reception at Holyrood, meetings with cross-party groups, regular members meetings, and participating and working with a range of organisations and working groups on older people’s issues, such as the Older Peoples Strategic Action Forum.

Achievements

In addition to SOPA organising and delivering a very successful and well-attended Assembly on 9th October last year, other notable achievements include the continuing appointment of Older People’s Champions and the Age-Friendly Communities Project funded by the Tudor Trust.

Election Results

The members noted and approved the results of the election of trustees. These were David Paterson, Catriona Mason, Mary Osei-Oppong, and Chris Grant. Office-bearers were re-elected unopposed.

Financial Report

Elaine Alsop, SOPA’s independent financial examiner, spoke about the annual accounts she audited which were duly approved. She noted risks are recorded on a risk register and policies continue to be under review to ensure governance arrangements are robust to support the delivery of SOPA’s three-year strategic plan.

Presentations

Three presentations followed the formal AGM business:

Teresa Lavery: SOPA’s Vice Chair, informed members about the board’s development day held on 25th January 2024 and the ongoing work of the trustees on our strategic plan for the next three years and also the new working groups being set up.
Tony Donohoe: SOPA’s Project Coordinator for Age-Friendly Communities, updated our audience on his work to date.
Dr. Louise Brown Nicholls: Senior Lecturer in Psychology Health and Wellbeing, at University of Strathclyde, is the founding Director of the Strathclyde Ageing Network. Her research is focused on understanding human memory and attention, and how these cognitive abilities are affected by adult ageing, especially healthy ageing. She delivered an interesting and illuminating presentation on her research into health and wellbeing through the adult lifespan.

Closing Remarks

The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer session. The meeting closed with the Chair thanking members, trustees, and staff for their commitment and engagement throughout the past year.

SOPA’s Three-year Plan 2024-2027 and the “to do” List for Members

February 25, 2024 by P4S-Dasha

After the last year of reviewing, consulting, and identifying priority issues, SOPA members have produced a plan for delivery over the next three years.

As we start to roll out the plan and as SOPA’s two members of staff plan their workloads for 2024, it might be useful to have a quick overview of the objectives we hope to achieve over the next three years.

Why Have a Three-Year Plan?

A three-year plan will help us focus on our long-term aims as we undertake our day-to-day work. It helps us recognise the priorities identified by members and plan how to use our resources effectively.

Our three-year plan will also be useful in informing our funders and supporters about what we are doing, how we are doing it, and how we measure our successes.

These are crucial factors that funders and potential funders will take into account when deciding if, and how much, they plan to fund our work.

Consultations and Updates

The SOPA trustees spend a lot of time and effort with members and other stakeholders in ongoing consultations. Most recently, we have undertaken an online survey, our assembly workshops, meetings with politicians and civil servants, and our Older People’s Champions, to name a few.

We have overhauled our website and newsletter, and our Lead Officer, Hetty Malcolm-Smith, is active on X (formerly known as Twitter) in keeping people up to date with what is happening.

We want to use digital technology to support members networking amongst themselves as well as with Trustees, and we are looking forward to establishing members’ working groups through 2024 to examine key issues in depth and make recommendations to the SOPA board on action on priority issues.

Our Four High-Level Objectives

Getting policy-makers at every level of government to listen to older people and act on what they hear.
Delivering the “Your Issue, Your Voice” project to highlight local issues that impact on older people.
Celebrating the positive contributions of older people in Scotland.
Having an Older People’s Champion in every local authority in Scotland.

We also need to work on expanding and strengthening the membership and ensuring SOPA’s future sustainability.

Measuring Impact

The trustees have also considered how to measure the impact of our work—not just measuring how well we perform on a day-to-day, month-to-month basis but measuring our success in delivering long-term change for the better.

This requires us to think about how we will know when we have achieved success when we get there, and how we can use evidence of our successes to demonstrate SOPA’s ability to deliver or help deliver, long-term changes for the better.

Where are we now as at February 2024?

We held our AGM on 29 January 2024 and presented the three-year plan to members. We will shortly send out to members the three-year plan in various formats, including our new logo, for members to take to their networks when talking about SOPA.

We have agreed on three priority topics for discussion by members’ working groups, which will be established in the next month or so.

The working groups are asked to tackle priority issues at some Zoom meetings over two to three months and make recommendations on action to the Board of Trustees. The first three topics are:

Social Care (we anticipate a number of working groups tackling various aspects of Social Care over the life of the three-year plan).
The potential pros and cons of the proposed Older People’s Commissioner in Scotland.
The impact of social isolation and ways in which it might be tackled in Scotland.

The Board of Trustees is looking forward to delivering the three-year plan to SOPA members and other stakeholders.

Our two members of staff are working on their calendar of work for 2024 to ensure that we tie in with key activities over the year, such as Scottish Government and Parliamentary action, key activities of our members, and our planned Parliamentary Reception.

Meet Teresa Lavery, SOPA Joint-Vice Chair

February 25, 2024 by P4S-Dasha

I was fortunate enough to take early retirement in 2018 after 30+ years working mainly in the public sector. I learned very quickly to enjoy my freedom, but I did think that it would be interesting and constructive to offer my skills to a third-sector organisation that might be moving towards a period of change.

I didn’t realise at the time when I was appointed as an associate trustee at SOPA that there was more than one change to tackle with my new fellow trustees, so I’ve been kept busy for a while.

I think that my past work experiences helped with some of the change management that we undertook. I am particularly pleased with being able to help shape SOPA’s next three-year plan and to work with fellow trustees and members in developing ways of measuring our impact on issues that affect older people in Scotland.

I worked in local authorities in planning and evaluating public services and, in the last 10 years of my career, I worked specifically in health and social care services.

I did a lot of work in public consultations on services and in building relationships between service providers and service users.

Much of my work was organising and supporting the planning work of senior managers in Health and Social Care in developing, delivering and evaluating services.

I also did a lot of work with voluntary sector organisations to help them develop in ways that equipped them with the business skills to bid for and deliver, local services under contract with local authorities and the Health and Social Care Partnerships.

I am enjoying my retirement. I enjoy getting out and about with friends visiting galleries and exhibitions and places of interest. I am an active member of the 3Ls art club at Strathclyde University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning.

The Centre and the art club have given me the confidence to put some of my paintings into public exhibitions – something I could not have imagined doing 10 years ago.

I have taken up Bridge which is a game that will keep me learning forever, and I have a young cockapoo dog who makes me go out walking at least three times a day, regardless of the weather.