New campaign wants to change the record on growing older in Rochdale – and needs your help

People aged 50 and over have teamed up for a new campaign – Talking About My Generation - to smash stereotypes

Campaigners want to change the record on what people think of growing older in Rochdale.

People aged 50 and over have teamed up for a new campaign – Talking About My Generation - to smash stereotypes and show what it’s really like to age in Rochdale and Greater Manchester as a whole – and are looking for new recruits.

The campaigners will be upskilled to take on a reporter’s role to share stories on people from their generation, to celebrate their lives and value in society, as well as highlighting challenges associated with ageing and how they are being overcome.

The Talking About My Generation Campaign will report on key issues for later life: from retirement and bereavement to staying active. The campaign reporters will be using different medias to share the stories including; hosting their own radio show, creating videos, writing news reports, poetry, photography, stage performances, podcasting and much more.

The campaign is part of an Ambition for Ageing project, with funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, and is being co-delivered with the support of PR social enterprise Yellow Jigsaw and Age UK partners.

Grace Dyke, from Yellow Jigsaw, said: “We are at risk of sounding like a broken record when we talk about the older generation. It is not all purple rinses, nylon dresses, rocking chairs and mumbles of ‘back in my day’. 

“The Talking About My Generation Campaign is challenging these views and changing the record on growing older – showing what this is really like for people in Rochdale and Greater Manchester as a whole by celebrating people’s lives over the age of 50. We would love more people to join us from Rochdale to become campaign reporters or share their stories of how they are rocking retirement.”

For more information on the campaign, how to become a campaign reporter in Rochdale and to read the campaigners' stories, go to:

• www.yellowjigsaw.co.uk/TalkingAboutMyGeneration