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Commissioner’s Blog: Reflecting on my first week as Commissioner

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Reflecting on my first week as Commissioner…

After a busy but hugely valuable and rewarding first week in post as Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, I wanted to share some early thoughts and reflections based on what older people discussed with me during the visits I made to Gwynedd and Powys.

First of all, I’d like to say a big thank you to all of the older people I met with, and the individuals and organisations working with them, for giving me such a warm welcome, and for sharing so much with me so openly and honestly. It was clear that they really value the Commissioner’s role, which makes me even more determined to deliver lasting positive change, as I set out in my first Statement. I’d also like to thank the teams at Age Cymru Gwynedd a Mon and Age Cymru Powys for all of their help and support in arranging the visits and the valuable insights they shared.

My visits in Gwynedd highlighted just how diverse communities can be, even within a local authority area, meaning that the needs of the older people can be significantly different. For example, many of the older people I spoke with in Bala had grown up there, had families living in the area and relatively strong support networks, including through the weekly Paned a Sgwrs group I visited.

In contrast, every older person I spoke with in Fairbourne had moved into the area later in life, often with family members living a great distance away. People shared that they had seen their needs change over the years as they had got older, and that finding support and accessing services was becoming more difficult.

Similarly, the older people I spoke with in Bala largely lived their lives through Welsh, while those living in Fairbourne were largely English-speaking.

These examples highlight why it’s so important that service providers across Wales work with older people to understand the diversity of their needs and develop support and services that reflect these – a one size fits all approach will simply not deliver what an older person needs.

Joining the Age Cymru Powys Rural Advice Van for visits to Boughrood and Llandrindod Wells, I saw first-hand the difference that can be made through face-to-face contact with older people within their communities, sparking conversations that tease out important details about people’s circumstances and the support that might be available, and building relationships and trust.

Every older person who spoke to the team was offered an opportunity to connect with some form of practical support, including help to claim Pension Credit and other entitlements, home visits to check energy efficiency, nail-cutting and foot care, befriending and other peer support services. More generally, older people who visited the van were provided with a phone number they could contact for information and advice, something that was clearly highly valued in an increasingly digital world.

However, the team shared with me that the service is currently at risk as their funding will run out in January, a common issue for many third sector organisations that can leave older people without support.

The older people I spoke with shared a number of common issues, including the impact of rising living costs, with much anger and concern about the loss of the Winter Fuel Payment. Many older people also highlighted a lack of suitable transport options as a particular barrier affecting their quality of life which often made  it difficult, if not impossible, to do things such as attend medical appointments, get to the shops, or meet up with family and friends.

As I shape my strategy and work programme, hearing directly from older people in communities throughout Wales will be a key focus for me and my team, to ensure that the action I take will deliver the best outcomes for older people. The issues raised by older people will also provide me with crucial evidence to support my calls for action and improvements across a wide range of policy and practice.

One thing in particular that struck me this week, was the resilience of so many of the older people I spoke with. But this resilience also means that the issues affecting older people’s lives can often go unseen.

That’s why as Commissioner, I will ensure that older people’s voices are heard, and I will bring their experiences and concerns directly to decision and policymakers, which will be crucial to deliver my vision of a Wales that leads the way in empowering older people, tackling inequality and enabling everyone to live and age well.

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