Meet the most experienced of Southend

This drop-in event on the ground floor of Southend's Victoria Shopping Centre from 10am till 4pm, recognises the contribution made to the community by our over 50's.  

This year's national theme is - getting and staying active, later in life - to encourage people to be take more exercise and publicise the benefits of physical, social and mental activity.  

The Southend celebration is organised by Southend Older Peoples' Assembly, and includes general information as well as details about local arts and cultural events, volunteering opportunities and much more.  

There will also be representatives of service providers, for residents to speak with.  

In addition, the event will see the launch of a project called SAMERU - designed to improve safety and mobility for older people in Southend.  

This initiative will aims to help older people to influence safety and mobility issues in the town.

The project is collating peoples' views on mobility especially about the use of the public highway for different modes of transport, such as bus, car, travel on foot, cycle, mobility scooter - or even crossing a road.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's Executive Councillor for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing, Councillor Lesley Salter said: "This is the fifth national Older Peoples Day, and we are very grateful to Southend Older Peoples Assembly for marking it locally with such a productive celebration.  

"We hope as many people as possible will be able to attend. Events like this are becoming increasingly important because by 2020, half the population in this country will be over 50.  

"This means that the nature of society is changing. Together we need to change attitudes about ageing, and do more to value the contribution of older people."