FREE Bristol workshops on older men combatting loneliness and social isolation – November 2018
The ‘Older Men at the Margins Project’ is a 2-year research project in collaboration with Age UK and funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research. The project seeks to identify ways of alleviating loneliness and reducing isolation for older men (65+) across marginalised groups: older men living in rural areas who are living alone; older gay and bisexual men who are living alone; older men living with hearing loss; and, older men who are carers for significant others. The project includes a fourth group, single older men (65+) who do not belong to the above groups, for comparison. The overarching aim is to develop an in-depth understanding of the ways in which marginalised groups of older men seek to maintain social engagement and social participation in later life and to learn more about their participation in groups and community networks. The project is based at the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol.
As part of the final stages of the project we’ll be hosting a series of three workshops in Bristol across November under the three themes of
1) older men and sexuality (gay men’s experiences)
2) older men and place (rural and urban locations)
3) older men who provide care for significant others.
The workshops are FREE to attend with lunch provided and are targeted at older community members, particularly men 65+ years, and providers of community-based services for older people in and outside of Bristol. All details about each workshop are outlined below.
We hope you can join us for one of the workshops – please register using the Eventbrite links below. If you have any questions please reply to omam-project@bristol.ac.uk or contact Paul on 0117331640. Numbers are capped at 40 people per workshop, please register by 8th October ‘18!
We’d appreciate it if you could please forward this invitation to relevant services and interested community members. We welcome participants from outside Bristol and South-West England region.
WORKSHOP 1: Loneliness, older men and sexuality: a workshop exploring how gay men who are single and living alone experience and combat loneliness and isolation.
DATE: Thursday 8th NOVEMBER 2018
TIME: 10-1pm, registration and coffee from 9.45am
This is a FREE workshop and lunch is provided. Registration is limited to 40 people.
Venue: BS3 Community Development, The Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1QG. Blue badge parking is available on site. There is pay and display parking right outside the building and the building is 5-10 minutes from a well-served bus route and 20-25-minute walk from Temple Meads train station. The venue is wheelchair accessible. For more information on the venue: https://bs3community.org.uk/about/southville-centre/
WORKSHOP 2: Loneliness, older men and place: a workshop exploring how single older men in rural and urban places experience and combat loneliness and isolation.
DATE: Thursday 15th NOVEMBER 2018
TIME: 10-1pm, registration and coffee from 9.45am
This is a FREE workshop and lunch is provided. Registration is limited to 40 people.
Venue: BS3 Community Development, The Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1QG. Blue badge parking is available on site. There is pay and display parking right outside the building and the building is 5-10 minutes from a well-served bus route and 20-25-minute walk from Temple Meads train station. The venue is wheelchair accessible. For more information on the venue: https://bs3community.org.uk/about/southville-centre/
WORKSHOP 3: Loneliness, older men and caring for others: a workshop exploring how older men who are carers for significant others experience and combat loneliness and isolation.
DATE: Thursday 22nd NOVEMBER 2018
TIME: 10-1pm, registration and coffee from 9.45am
This is a FREE workshop and lunch is provided. Registration is limited to 40 people.
Venue: BS3 Community Development, The Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1QG. Blue badge parking is available on site. There is pay and display parking right outside the building and the building is 5-10 minutes from a well-served bus route and 20-25-minute walk from Temple Meads train station. The venue is wheelchair accessible. For more information on the venue: https://bs3community.org.uk/about/southville-centre/
The aim of each workshop is to bring together older community members with service providers to explore ways in which older men from these different groups and locations experience and combat loneliness and isolation in later life. Participants will:
- Receive an overview of emerging findings from the Older Men at the Margins Project at the University of Bristol. We’ve conducted over 100 interviews with men 65+ years from five seldom-heard or hard-to-reach groups across the South West and West of England. We’ll be presenting some of the key findings from the interviews, relevant to the workshop topic.
- Hear from Age UK (national charity for older people) about some of their current initiatives to combat loneliness and social isolation amongst older people in England
- Have an opportunity to explore and identify together current gaps in groups for men and community services in helping to reduce loneliness and social isolation amongst older men and what new groups and initiatives may be needed.
* Please note we will be organising a separate workshop on men with hearing loss for early 2019.
If you are a man 65+ years of age, we can reimburse your travel expenses to the workshops – please contact Alex Vickery: alex.vickery@bristol.ac.uk or telephone (0117) 954 6773