Welcome to the website for the York Older People’s Assembly

For details of the Assembly and of events and information for older people, please click on the links on the menu above or the links below, alternatively contact us by post or email.

A letter from Jim Cannon, Yopa Chair

May 2024

Dear Members and Friends,

Our next Open meeting is on Monday 20^th May 2024 at 2pm at Friends Meeting House. All are welcome to join us – both members and non-members.

Alison Semmence is the Chief Executive of York Centre for Voluntary Service (YCVS) and will be joining us to talk about “York CVS: At the heart of the system”. YOPA is one of the many organisations in York which participate in the events organised by YCVS to help the voluntary sector build up its service. Look out for more news on the day!

HealthWatch York is your way to influence local health and social care services – hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries, Home care services and many others. Janet Wright is the Chair of Healthwatch York and will be coming to update us on the latest news and events affecting the services in York.

Both of these topics are about voluntary services in York so if you want to find out more for either yourself or somebody else, come along and join in. Bring a friend and ask your questions or set out your views. Refreshments will be available.

Many will know Bob Towner well as our esteemed Newsletter Editor and former Chair. Unfortunately, he had a fall last week and was in hospital for a few days. He is now back home in recovery mode – our very best wishes go to him and his wife Fiona (she’s got a job looking after him!!)

Elections

Following the recent election for a Mayor for York and North Yorkshire, we have invited David Skaith to come to one of our future meetings which he has willingly agreed to do.

The continued uncertainty of the date of the General Election and the Hustings that we will organise for it, means we cannot yet finalise the date.

We will keep you informed once the Prime Minister tells us when the General Election will take place.

 

The Age Friendly York Citizens Group is open to all older people in York and details are available at AgeFriendlyYork@york.gov.uk. The Group meets on the first Thursday of every other month at West Offices from 10 – 11.30am with the next meeting on 6^th June – all are welcome.

Membership Year

Our membership year runs from April to March. Therefore, membership subscriptions for 2024 are now due and remain at only £5 per member (£10 for couples) – extra donations are very welcome.

Cost of postage is increasing and mailing paper copies of the Newsletter costs more than we receive in the basic membership so if you have a paper copy posted to you, please consider increasing your donation (or changing to an electronic version).

During the last year, we have switched banks to Lloyds Bank.  It is enormously helpful to us if people can pay by Standing Order (SO). For those who already do so then please change your standing order to our new bank account. Let us know if you need help in setting up a standing order. More details are set out on the reverse of this letter.

Subscription Information for 2024

The benefits of belonging to YOPA include –

• Regular Open meetings for you and your friends at which matters relating to older people in York are covered/talked about/discussed.
• 4 Newsletters a year with articles of interest to older people
• Information Fairs with many stands of local older people’s organisations
• Annual 50+ Festival with dozens of events across the City ranging from exercise and fitness to local history, music and gardening.
• During 2023 we held public meetings while we spent a lot of time working with York Council and others to maintain our visibility and continue to register the needs of older people.

Please consider paying by Standing Order to improve our efficiency. Our new bank account details are as follows: –             Account Name:  York Older Peoples Assembly

Bank:                       Lloyds Bank

Sort Code:               30-99-50

Account Number:    77997668

Please note it is ESSENTIAL to ask your Bank to quote your full name on the instructions from them to our Bank. If you have any queries, please phone the office, or call our Treasurer Shirley Reed on 01759-372993.

We welcome donations and several members add a donation to their subscription.

Gift Aid

We can also claim Gift Aid from the government for those who pay income or capital gains tax. If this applies to you, please let us know and we can send you a form which will allow us to claim an extra 25% on your subscription and donations.

We hope that you will choose to continue to be a Member of YOPA and look forward to seeing you at one of our future events.

Jim Cannon

Chair, York Older People’s Assembly, Email: yopachair@outlook.com                                                             

Age Friendly York

https://twitter.com/yopayork

Contact us

If you are an older person and interested in learning more about the work of Yopa and perhaps becoming a member, browse this website, send us an email, or come to one of our Open Meetings.

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