The charity and voluntary sector is entering an “age of opportunity” thanks to the skills of an ageing population, according to Lynne Berry, chair of the Commission on the Voluntary Sector and Ageing (CVSA).
Speaking yesterday at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Civil Society and Volunteering, Berry said that the next generation of older people are an asset that needs to be embraced by the voluntary sector.
“The next generation of older people will be the best educated, the healthiest, the wealthiest and the most racially diverse generation of people that has ever lived,” said Berry.
“Never before has there been so much social capital – so many assets both tangible and in tangible, tied up in the life experience of a generation that has benefited from extended school leaving age, expansion of higher education and extraordinary medical and scientific discoveries that underpin everything from the NHS and transport, to the revolution in communications and media.”
Berry spoke of CVSA's 20-year plan to push for changes within the voluntary sector.
“In 20 years time, there will be an extraordinarily diverse group of older people,” she said. “Their views will reflect their life experiences and inform who they think is responsible to give voice to their aspirations and who should provide the services they need.
“This is the generation that doesn’t want Vera Lynn played at the day centre but is more likely to be requesting the Rolling Stones and Beatles. It’s also the generation of the radical 60s and the first generation of women who spent their adult life in paid employment.
“The voluntary sector will have an important role to play in creating the sort of world that these older people of the future are going to want. But only if changes are made… The first step is to stop thinking of older people as a problem and start thinking of older people as the greatest resource the sector could possibly have.”
Berry warned that failure of the charity sector to “grasp this opportunity” will contribute to a “divisive analysis” that sees ageing as a burden for the next generation.
“We take the premise at the CVSA, that if we can grasp this potential, we can invest the skills and resources available to us to create a thriving, relevant and creative place for the voluntary sector and civil society,” she said.
'Golden gap year'
Berry said pension reform could see people drawing pension money at the age of 55 to “take a golden gap year” to retrain for a new retirement career in the voluntary sector.
“The voluntary sector has the potential to become the employment of choice for older people and people making mid-life changes. It could be the sector that offers satisfaction,” said Berry.
“If it is this exciting, not only will older people want to work in it, but younger people will flock to work in this sector too, as the most vibrant and connected work that there is.
“We may have a 20-year horizon but we can’t wait 20 years to start making these changes,” said Berry. “We believe at the Commission that we must keep up the pressure on voluntary organisations to identify how they need to change to remain an exciting and creative challenge for an ageing society.”
