The swinging sixties are coming back to Torbay!

What interesting summer weather we have been having recently, one minute it is a howling gale and the next blazing sunshine, it makes it hard to know what season it is. I should be used to this really, because seasonal confusion is a daily part of my line of work. You are probably blissfully unaware but across the country marketing and communications people will be sat at their desks in their summer outfits planning advertising for Christmas, the upside to this is at least we have no excuse for not buying our cards and presents in time.  Or do we? Because by the time we have actually got to Christmas we will be thinking about Summer. C’est la vie.

However whilst we are thinking about Christmas, did you know that Ageing Well Torbay are running a Christmas Card Competition? It is open to anyone over the age of 18 and the winning entries will be turned into actual cards that you can send to your family and friends. All of the entries will also be displayed at the yearly Ageing Well Festival and added to our Ageing Well Torbay website.

Recently I have had a little break from writing regular updates, far from twiddling my thumbs or perhaps more disappointingly for me, being on an exotic holiday, I have been busy working with the Ageing Well Festival Steering Group on this years’ 1960s themed event. The hugely popular, free festival is being held on Saturday 30^th September between 10am – 6pm at Lupton House, which is in Churston Ferrers, close to Brixham. It is a really beautiful, timeless venue, which once visited is never forgotten.

The advertising for the 2017 festival will start to pop up all over Torbay over the next few weeks, but hearteningly we have already been fielding calls left, right and centre about the event. It has been fantastic to talk to people who are so keen to come along and get involved and to know that so many people are making a note of the date in their diaries.  After the 2016 festival we were thrilled when we got a call from the National Food and Drink board of the Republic of Ireland to ask if we would let them write about Ageing Well Festival in one of their official government reports about celebrating ageing and older people. Ageing Well Festival is truly helping to put Torbay on the International map, so if you haven’t been to an event yet come to this years, everyone is welcome!

This year’s festival is set to be the biggest event yet and will include lots of 1960s events including music from the decade, motorbikes and themed dance classes, the twist anyone? There will also be yoga, a ukulele taster session and workshop, jewellery making classes, easy exercise classes, tai chi and a session on helpful ways to relax and energise yourself.

The Steering Group have taken on board feedback from the Symposium of Ideas about how useful having free access to legal advice, benefits and entitlements was for people, so they have decided to incorporate an Advice Corner at the Lupton event. They have also decided to include two other very popular activities from the Symposium including, IT advice and searching for family history.

Audrey Hepburn once said “Life is a party, dress for it” which is a mantra that our Festival Steering Group have embraced for this years’ 1960s event. If you wear a 1960s outfit you will even be in with the chance of winning a prize!