MP helps celebrate Old People’s Day

Macclesfield Member of Parliament, David Rutley, joined in the celebrations for Older People’s Day, at Poynton Civic Hall, where Poynton Town Council held a showcase of services for older people, with more than 250 in attendance.

Older People’s Day, an international event, aims to recognise the achievements and contributions that older people make to society. The successful event in Poynton demonstrated the wide range of services that are available to older people in the Poynton area, with over 25 exhibitors on show. The exhibitors included representatives from public and private housing and care providers, emergency services, Trading Standards and many charities, including: the Cheshire East branch of AgeUK and the Red Cross. The event was such a success, that every exhibitor present asked if they could return for the event next year.

Poynton Town Council also had a stand, where it was able to promote its new local community transport scheme, having recently received funding from Cheshire East Council. This funding included a donation of two minibuses, formerly part of the Cheshire East Council bus fleet, now to be used in the Poynton scheme. The Town Council also launched its new campaign, which is focussed on tackling loneliness and social isolation among older members of our community.

Following the event, David said, “The aim of the event was to raise awareness that more must be done to support older people and enable them to be active and vital contributors to our communities. Poynton Town Council has done a lot of work to improve services for older people, demonstrated by the appointment of Trish Hill as Adult Health and Wellbeing Coordinator. There are some superb initiatives in place, as we saw from the exhibitors, and I would congratulate all of them and Poynton Town Council for the excellent event put on today, which I was delighted to support”.