The summer sun was shining this week as a local community united in Manchester to celebrate the region’s Festival of Ageing.
Residents from the Brunswick area soaked up the sunshine in the beautiful gardens of Elizabeth Yarwood Court, organised by housing provider S4B, while enjoying a BBQ to celebrate the diverse and wonderful ageing population.
It was a fun-filled day of smiles and laughter for the locals and residents of the sheltered housing scheme on Wednesday (7 July), dancing and singing away to live music from swing band, Jazette.
As part of Greater Manchester’s Festival of Ageing 2018 (2-15 July), organisations throughout the region are hosting similar events for local communities to embrace ageing.
There was even a pot plant each to take home donated by Chorlton-on-Medlock Allotment Society (COMAS), another colourful addition to the day.
Resident at Elizabeth Yarwood Court, Mary Kent, 74, said: “We had such a fantastic day, the sun shone down, the music played and the food was delicious – Donna’s homemade burgers and juicy chicken kebabs were a real treat.
And it was so good to see so many young people come along and enjoy the fun with us older ones – they certainly bridged the generation gap and we showed them we certainly haven’t forgotten how to have a good time!”
S4B scheme Manager, Donna Shaw, said: “The event was a roaring success, I could barely keep up with so many mouths to feed. It was a fantastic turn out and so good to hear so many laughs and see so many smiles.
The weather isn’t always on our side but it was today – the sun well and truly shone down on us. I feel so proud to have been part of such an amazing event for Greater Manchester. It was a celebration for our older generation but there were people of all ages having the same fun – it was fantastic to see and something I’ll never forget”.
Take a look at more photos from the day on the S4B Facebook page.