So, it’s that time again. International Day of Older People is here again. This year’s UK theme for the day is: ‘Building Belonging: Celebrating the power of social connections’.
This reminds me of several years that I helped my local Older People’s Forum celebrate the day by bringing together all local organisations having connections with older people to exhibit their work in our minster church. It was an opportunity to engage with our community and with each other. It worked because many of us worked with more than one organisation and we loved to network rather than compete for project funding.
At one time I was chair of a group working on making our borough an ‘Age-Friendly Community’. This did not just involve local NGO/charities, but also local government, businesses and other institutions all working towards the aims of the UN to make a better future for older people.
When I worked with organisations abroad, I coined the term ‘coopetition’. Where otherwise competing groups could cooperate in submitting joint project proposals which were much stronger and attractive than those from single bodies. The term was adopted and picked up by a local university to promote research into the concept.
I have always been a networker, locally, nationally and internationally. This has guided my career, the initiation of projects and the formation of life-long friendships. I have led a full life and I am never lonely. This may have involved attending lots of meetings (usually invited) or following up the reading of papers by writing to their authors. I have volunteered to do stuff, often involving out-of-the-box innovations. The old adage, ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’ has also been a theme.
My favourite haunts over the years have been coffee shops (preferably outdoor). I have been continually surprised where spontaneous conversations with hitherto strangers have taken me. They have led to discovering mutual interests, introduction to other individuals and groups. Party invitations lead to new social networks where chit-chat can turn into new collaborations.
So, looking back on my rich life, I know that I am not alone in my love of networking. It is a common story amongst my contemporaries. It rarely has barriers of culture, ethnicity, faith or gender. My generation (I am 75) has been through the genesis and development of computers, internet, social media, on-line meetings. Using and embracing developing technology has presented new ways for us to be valued, to contribute and make a difference both to our lives and that of others anywhere in the world. Belonging to a local group of friends and colleagues presents the possibility of belonging to a world-wide community of change-makers.
